Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
I don’t drink much alcohol, but the white wine I order goes down smoothly. Kit has a beer, his eyes on mine as he sits so close I can feel the heat of his body beside mine.
“How you doing?” he asks softly.
“Good. How about you?”
“Never been better.” A smile tugs on the corners of his lips. “I’m not sure if I told you, but there’s this really hot reporter who finally agreed to go out with me. I’m pretty stoked about it.”
“Really hot, huh?” I laugh lightly. “Doesn’t sound like anyone I know.”
“She’s crazy hot. Pretty, but it’s a lot more than that. She’s smart. Tough. Stubborn. And her heart’s a little bit bruised, but I think I can help with that.”
My pulse pounds, a heady sensation making me just a little dizzy. This giant force of a man sounds completely taken with me. And the feeling is mutual.
“Do you?” I whisper, my eyes locked on his.
He leans in closer, so close the warmth of his breath dances across my lips. I close my eyes, reveling in the smell and feel of his nearness.
“Yeah,” he whispers back. “You’ll see.”
Suddenly, I can’t wait another moment to be alone with him.
“I want you,” I say softly.
Kit slides from his stool and takes out his wallet, taking out two twenties and leaving them on the bar. Then he takes my hand and leads me out of the restaurant, not saying a word until we reach his car.
“I think you’ll like the dinner plans I made,” he says, opening the car door for me.
My heart races as I get in the car, brushing against his arm. Now that we’ve made it to our first date, my walls seem to have fallen all at once. I’m not worried I won’t be enough. There’s no room for anything but the crushing, overwhelming desire I feel for Kit.
“I really like you, Molly,” Kit says as he drives, putting his hand on my knee. “I want you to know that.”
“I really like you, too.”
He grins and glances at me. “I wasn’t sure you ever would at first.”
“It was a slightly rocky start,” I admit. “That was my fault.”
“Nah. You just needed some time.”
He drives past several restaurants, and I’m tapping my foot against the floorboard, trying to figure out how I’ll make it through an entire dinner. All I want is to be alone with Kit.
When he turns to enter the underground parking garage of an apartment building near Lake Shore Drive, I look at him, my heart hammering with excitement.
“Is this your building?”
He gives me a sly smile. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
I take a few calming breaths as he eases into a parking place and we both get out of the car. Again, he takes my hand and leads me over to an elevator. We enter and Kit pushes the up button.
As the elevator doors close, we turn to face each other at the same time and he takes my face in his hands, desire racing through my veins and swimming in his eyes.
“Molly,” he murmurs, his mouth descending on mine.
His kiss starts gentle, but quickly turns passionate. The brush of his beard against my skin and the warmth of his mouth on mine make me lightheaded. I grab the sides of his jacket, holding on tightly as Kit’s lips leave mine, smooth and soft as they caress my jawline.
The ding of the elevator doors sliding open makes us both pull back. Kit leads the way across the hallway to a door with a keypad beside it. He enters several numbers and the lock clicks open.
His apartment is large, the Chicago city lights visible through floor-to-ceiling windows. The wide-plank wood floors are a medium shade, and the open kitchen is a mix of grays and whites. I’m taking everything in—the leather couch and recliners, the modern wood furniture and even the black and white framed landscape photos on the walls—when my gaze stops on the dining table, where tall candles are burning, food is waiting under covered dishes and a bottle of champagne is chilling in a stainless-steel bucket full of ice.
“You did this?” I turn to Kit, dumbstruck.
His grin is sheepish. “I actually can’t take credit; I hired someone to do it.”
“Right, but you…did this. You…had this done. For me?”
“Yeah.” His voice is hardly above a whisper. “For our first date.”
I lunge at him, pushing his leather jacket to the floor and then reaching for his belt buckle to unfasten it. With a low groan, he pulls me into his arms, my feet leaving the floor as our bodies press together.
My insecurities are forgotten as he carries me into his bedroom, his hands cupped around my ass and mine cupped around his cheeks. He sets me down next to the bed and I immediately get back to peeling his clothes off. I’ve gotten his shirt and jeans off, but he stops me before I can pull his boxer briefs down.