It took less than ten minutes to get to his place, which was a small bungalow on the ocean side of the island. On the entire drive over, Sydney refused to let herself overthink or even question why she was doing this. Tomorrow, she told herself, she could have regrets. But for tonight, she was going to simply live in the moment.
Kyle was waiting in the front doorway for her. Once she was out of her car and walking toward him, she could tell he had been asleep—or close to it. He didn’t look like he took any time to get changed or even run a brush through his wild mane of hair. He was clearly a man who was comfortable in his own skin. Kyle Jones was who he was at all times. What you saw was what you got, and she realized she admired him for that. He was honest to a fault. And sweet and friendly and kind.
And sexy as hell.
Wait…how much wine did I have?
Who was she kidding? She wanted him. Badly. Wine or no wine. Not that she was expecting hearts and flowers and happily ever after, but she was smart enough to know she was lying to herself about not being interested in having something with him.
Would it be easy to pretend she wasn’t interested?
Yes.
Would she spend way too much time obsessing over how much she wanted him?
Also yes.
But more than anything, would she totally kick herself in the butt long after the work on the house was done for not going for it with him?
And the answer to that was another big, fat yes.
“Dammit.”
Now wasn’t the time to deal with it, though.
“Hey,” he said, his voice low and gruff as he stepped aside and motioned for her to come in.
She stepped inside and was instantly surprised. The place was small, but it was decorated with a bit of a nautical theme that she would never have expected. Behind her, she heard the door close and knew there was no turning back.
“Have a seat,” he said. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Just water. Please.” Then she sat down and waited for him to join her.
A minute later, she had her water and one sexy man looking at her expectantly—his arms casually crossed over his chest—and she couldn’t seem to form a single word.
So she studied him.
And he let her.
There was something both incredibly masculine about him as much as there was still so much boyish charm. He was a bit of an enigma to her, and yet she was incredibly drawn to him. Her fingers twitched with the need to touch his strong, stubbled jaw. She longed to feel that scratchiness against her skin. Next, her eyes scanned down to his muscled arms. They flexed as her eyes scanned them and she marveled at how powerful they looked. Her mind went back to when they had kissed the other day and she remembered touching them and thinking they were one of the sexiest things about him.
As much as she appreciated him not pushing her to talk, she felt like she needed to say something.
“You uh…you were right about going out tonight. I had a great time with the girls.”
He nodded.
“When I got home…” She let out a long, shaky breath. “It was too quiet. Too many ghosts.” She let out a mirthless laugh, remembering when he had used the same term.
Another nod.
Sydney wished he’d say something—anything—just as much as she was thankful for his silence. Kyle did have a habit of saying the wrong thing so…
Either way, her nerves were a bit stretched and the urge to touch him was too strong.
Tentatively, she reached out and placed her hand on his bicep. Kyle’s skin was warm and smooth, and she slowly inched closer. Her hand gently caressed upwards to his shoulder.
“Kyle,” she whispered.
“I’m right here.”
Sydney leaned in a little closer. “I know,” she said, her voice so soft that she could barely hear herself. This time he shifted a little as his head slowly turned toward her. Those wolf-gray eyes looked at her intensely. They stayed like that for several heartbeats before a slow, sensuous smile spread across his face.
“What is it you want, Syd?” His voice was so low and gruff that it was almost a growl.
Swallowing hard, she continued to stare at him.
“If you just need a place to hang out until you’re okay going home, then we can sit up and talk until you feel better.” Lazily, he turned fully