and talking. For Diane, it was the sound of comfort. She’d grown up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where she still lived, and activity meant home.
Eventually, they found themselves in Tribeca. Near the river, the cacophony faded. They stopped at a railing and looked across the dark water, at Jersey City beyond.
“Great view,” Kai said.
“God, I love it.” She draped her arms over the railing. “I never want to leave.”
“You certainly are a city girl.” He chuckled.
“Through and through. But what about you, small-town boy? You ever want to leave New York and move back to a little town?”
“Never,” he said with zero hesitation.
“I knew I liked you.”
He laughed harder, then squinted at her face. “You have…”
Instead of finishing, he reached over and brushed his thumb under her eye. Diane’s breath froze in her throat, the result of an electric touch.
“It was an eyelash,” he said in a hushed voice.
Instead of removing his hand, he let his touch linger on her face. Her heart rate sped up. There were lampposts all around them, but still, it was dark out. For him to have noticed the eyelash he would have had to be studying her face awfully hard.
Not that there was anything wrong with that.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.” His throat rolled with a swallow.
It was hard to say if she made the first move or if he did. One second they were staring at each other, and the next second their lips were pressed together.
Diane sank into the kiss, her body melting like ice under the heat of his touch.
Kai’s fingers wound through her hair, exploring and relishing. She took a half step closer to him, pressing her chest against his. On and on the kiss went. It felt like they could stay there forever, lost in that perfect moment and forgetting all about the world.
And maybe they couldn’t do exactly that, but they darn well tried.
Chapter 2
Diane
Rolling over, Diane nuzzled her face into the softest pillowcase ever. It felt like pure silk.
When had she traded out her old cotton sheets for new silk ones?
That’s right. She hadn’t.
Her eyes snapped open, and she took in the bedroom around her. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of Manhattan. A door that opened to a walk-in closet. Flat-screen TV mounted above a fireplace.
Sitting up in Kai’s massive bed, she looked to the side, but he was nowhere to be found.
The night before came back in a wave. Wine at the bar. A walk to the water. The kiss that sent shivers to her toes.
They’d left the river and walked to Kai’s place, only a few blocks away. There, they’d opened another bottle of wine. Not halfway through it, they’d been all over each other again.
Everything else came back in snippets. His soft touch running along her curves. The gentle way he kissed her. Their falling asleep in an embrace.
Now it was the next morning. What that meant, Diane wasn’t sure.
She wasn’t into hooking up and moving on. Staying at Kai’s meant something to her. It said that she wanted to get to know him better.
But how did he feel?
A ball formed in her stomach, and she threw back the covers and collected her clothes from the floor. Dressing quickly, she found her backpack along the wall. Her shoes, on the other hand, were missing. She vaguely recalled kicking them off at some point during the night but had no clue exactly where.
Out in the hall, she paused.
Hold up. This is an apartment? In New York City?
The hallway was easily four times the length of the one in her one-bedroom apartment. Six closed doors led off from it, with a window at one end and an arch that led into a living room at the other. Diane walked slowly, feeling out of place.
The living room had to be the size of her whole apartment, with a grand piano and a bar. She stood there, blinking and taking it all in. How come she hadn’t noticed the opulence the night before?
Oh, that’s right. She’d been a tad preoccupied with the man who lived there.
“Hey.”
She jumped at the sound of Kai’s voice. Turning, she found him in the adjoining kitchen, setting takeout bags on the counter.
He’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt, but his bedhead said he hadn’t been up long. In the light of day, he looked even better.
“Hi,” she squeaked out.
“I picked up some breakfast. From One-Oh-Two.” He smiled in a lopsided way that made her heart do a flip.
“That’s my favorite diner.”
“I know.” An even