The Promise of Change - By Rebecca Heflin Page 0,50

her, before placing her wrap around her shoulders and hugging her to him.

Although it was well past midnight, Sarah was too keyed up to sleep. Tonight’s good night kiss had taken on an entirely different tenor.

When they’d reached the lobby, it had been dark and abandoned with the late hour. Rather than kissing her at the bottom of the stairs, as he usually did, Alex had pulled her into a darkened corner and proceeded to kiss her with barely restrained passion.

He had taken her completely by surprise. She found herself gasping for breath, yet unable to get enough of his lips on hers.

Her fingers found his thick, dark curls and grasped them like a lifeline, tugging his face down to hers. He pulled away, his lips moving to the hollow beneath her ear, giving her a chance to catch her breath, but not for long.

The length of his body pressed hers against the paneled wall.

He let down her hair, dropping the clip to the floor with a clatter, before wrapping his fingers in her unbound hair, and pulling her head back to kiss her along her neck to her jawbone.

A moan of unadulterated pleasure escaped her lips.

Releasing her hair, his hands moved to her waist, pressing her closer still, leaving no doubt as to the intensity of his desire.

Then he turned her around in his arms and began to rain hot kisses down her bare back. One arm wrapped around her waist, the other brushed her hair aside. “I’ve longed to do this all night,” he said as he kissed and nipped at her bare shoulders.

Her breath came in short pants, making her dizzy with both longing and hypoxia.

Sarah was on the verge of asking him up to her room when he suddenly pulled away and turned her to face him, searching her eyes, before releasing her and stepping back, his breath raspy.

He whispered, “I’d better go,” then kissed her chastely. “Good night, Sarah. Sleep well.”

She stood, dazed, watching him as he strode out of the lobby. She’d remained there, trying to control her pounding heart, for what seemed like several minutes, before pushing off the wall she’d used to support herself, and staggering up the stairs, down the hall, and, after fumbling with the key, into her room.

Closing the door quietly behind her, she leaned against it for support, trying in vain to figure out what had just happened. Where had that come from, and why had it ended so abruptly, leaving her both frustrated and confused?

There was no way she was going to find sleep anytime soon. Hoping she wouldn’t disturb the other guests in the hotel, she ran a hot bath in the hopes of soaking away her agitation.

She slid into the hot bubble bath and sighed, thinking back on the evening. It had been wonderful, sexual frustration notwithstanding. She couldn’t remember when she’d last felt so completely admired, respected, and desired by another man. Especially desired. She shivered at the memory of his lips on her bare back. Those kisses seemed more intimate to her than any others.

She should be angry that he’d left her like that, but she actually found his restraint sexy. Not too many men would have walked away from a woman who was as obviously willing as she was.

Adrenaline still pulsed through her body. The zing of electricity she felt whenever he touched her, the breathlessness when he kissed her, was unlike anything she’d ever known. Her lips still tingled where he’d gently nibbled them.

She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed being wooed, pursued, and yes . . . seduced.

She groaned and slid deeper into the bubbles. What was she doing? That seemed to be a constant refrain this week. Her life was so confused right now, and Alex only added to the confusion.

I’m thirty-eight years old, she thought, newly divorced, out of work, and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. She didn’t need another man . . . not now.

But what a man he was. Strong, yet sensitive; in control, but not controlling; worldly, tolerant, and insightful.

He understood her in a way few others did. His eyes revealed flashes of intuition when she exposed some other aspect of her character. Add to all that, the rare and beautiful combination of masculinity and grace, and you had the total package. “Oh God,” she moaned. “I’m in deep trouble.”

It wasn’t a hot bath that Alex sought, but a cold shower. His high-minded plans to let her