She shooed him away. “Go to New York. I’m going to enjoy this fabulous bed all by myself.” She sighed contentedly, settling into the plush white pillow.
“You’re killing me,” he said as he grabbed his phone from the couch, patting his pockets to finish his inventory.
“Oh, I’m sure the plane will be just as nice. The only thing those first class seats will be missing is... me,” she said, with a wicked glint in her eyes.
He jammed a hand in his hair and walked over to the bed, parking his hands on the side of the mattress. “What I wouldn’t give to get in this bed with you right now.”
“It’s especially nice if you’re naked against the sheets,” she said, turning on her side, taunting him as the duvet slipped to above her breasts, exposing her bare shoulders.
“What are you doing on Tuesday? I’m back then. Spend the night with me. My first meeting Wednesday isn’t till ten in the morning, so I promise I won’t cut it short.”
“If you don’t intend to cut it short, you’re going to need to get that fine ass of yours to San Francisco,” she said, snaking out a hand from under the covers and grabbing his rear. “I’m there for the on-site rehearsal. At your club. I don’t fly back till late Tuesday.”
“Mmm,” he said, stroking his chin. “I just remembered I need to visit Edge in San Francisco on Tuesday night, and then take you back here with me.”
“You don’t want to just meet up back here?”
“No. Because I’ll leave New York in the morning so I’ll see you a few hours sooner if I don’t have to wait in Vegas for you to finish and catch your flight.”
“Consider that a yes.” She smiled broadly. “Get out of here, Nichols. You’ll miss your flight.”
He bent down and claimed her lips one final time, lingering on her sweet taste, hoping it stayed with him until he could touch her again in a few days.
If anyone had asked him a few weeks ago if he’d ever see the love of his life again, much less kiss her, he’d have given a resounding no. Fate had been teaching him a lesson up until then. Don’t walk away from the greatest thing you’ve ever known, you stupid idiot.
Fate had been beating that one into his head. Relentlessly. Like water torture.
Then, he’d been granted a reprieve.
He took one last kiss for the road. “I’ll see you in San Francisco then.”
The little flecks of gold in her emerald eyes nearly sparkled. “When? When will you arrive?”
She sounded so damn eager to see him, too, and for the first time since he’d started chasing her again, he truly felt as if he was close to catching her, wrapping his arms around her, and holding her for always. Maybe she was on the same wavelength, too.
“I’ll book my flight as soon as possible. I’ll text you the details.”
She scrunched up the corner of her lips. “Hmm. I wonder if I should keep making you wait more. For the thing you really want.”
He grumbled in protest, then relented. “The thing I want is you. I will wait for you as long as I have to,” he said, then took a beat. A pause for effect. “But preferably not much longer.”
She laughed. “We’ll see what kind of mood I’m in when you get to San Francisco.”
“Then it will be my job to get you in the mood to spread those legs, wrap them around my back, and dig in your heels,” he said, trailing his fingers between her breasts, savoring the last arch of her back as she responded to his touch.
She looked so vulnerable. So open. So ready for him. She’d given her body to him so freely during the last few weeks. And the more she gave of the physical, the more she seemed to be opening her heart to him again.
As she met his eyes, he was reminded once more of that stay of execution he’d been granted. The amnesty from his past mistakes. He couldn’t let her slip away again.
He ran his thumb over her chin, and pressed his finger over her lips. “Don’t say anything. It’s my turn, and I want to leave you with this. I’m crazy for you. Completely, absolutely, thoroughly crazy about you.”
Her eyes glittered, and on that note he walked away.
But this time, he was coming back.
He was leaving having said the right words, instead of the