Her eyes were on the floor as she walked along, and once again, my mouth got ahead of my brain. “Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you again.”
Madison’s head whipped up, and it felt as if sparks shimmered in the air between us when her eyes met mine from a few feet away. “Oh! Hi. What are you doing here?”
“Getting a room,” I offered. “I presume you’re doing the same. That’s what most people do at a place like this.”
Madison actually pursed her lips and lifted her chin. I saw the fire flash in her eyes. Once again, my body sat up and took notice as a jolt of lust sizzled through me. I didn’t know what it was about this woman, but she got to me. Big time. I honestly struggled to remember the last time I’d paid much attention to a woman. I was no monk, but I barely had time for a rushed breakfast these days. Being a single father didn’t allow for much free time, nor did being a hotshot firefighter. Throw in the reality that I was a cynical man, and it all added up to zero time for romance.
Madison’s lips curled into a smile. “Excellent point, Graham. I am here for the night.”
“I’m glad you’re not trying to drive in the darkness. It can dip below freezing at night now even though it’s only August.”
Jesus. Now, I sounded just like my daughter said—lecturey.
“I appreciate your concern. Nice to see you again,” she offered politely. She opened the door to the room beside mine.
I didn’t realize I was still staring until she lifted her hand in a little wave before she slipped into the room, and the door clicked shut.
After I let myself into my room and tossed my bag on the dresser, I decided to head down to the restaurant. There might be actual humans there. There were, but it was pretty quiet. I had a beer and a burger with fries at the bar and was headed back to my room when I saw Madison. Again.
She stopped in the hallway as I approached. She turned, and I felt as if she were assessing me when I came to a stop a few feet away. She cocked her head to the side, and for a second, just a flash, I thought I saw vulnerability flickering there. Then she bit her lip.
Fuck me. This girl and her perfectly straight teeth denting the plump cushion of her bottom lip sent fire sizzling through me. She took a step closer, and I could feel the voltage vibrating across the short distance separating us. “I have a question, Graham.”
“Yes?” I prompted, my voice laced with a ragged edge.
None of this made sense, but I couldn’t have walked away from her if my life depended on it.
“Can I kiss you?” She had a Southern drawl, and it slid over me like warm honey.
Okay, then. I didn’t know what I’d expected her to ask, but it wasn’t that. No matter how insane it seemed, I decided that kissing her was exactly what I should do. Because I would never see this woman again. Maybe desire had no place in my life, but I could kiss an absolutely gorgeous girl and walk away with a memory.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’ll kiss you,” I murmured, taking one stride and lifting a hand.
When my palm cupped her cheek, I could feel the heat simmering under my touch. I felt caught in a mist of fire. There was chemistry, and then there was this. We were fire in a bottle.
I slid my palm down, letting my thumb trail over the wild beat of her pulse. I was gratified to feel it, to sense that perhaps her reaction to me was as powerful and primitive as mine to her. I slipped my hand into the spill of her silky dark hair, cupping her nape as I watched the clear green of her eyes darken like a forest in the shade.
I took an incremental step closer and felt the soft curves of her against my chest. I was a hard man, and she was all warmth and lush heat.
She opened her mouth to say something—hell if I knew what—and I said, “Shh. You wanted a kiss.”
At that, her lashes brushed against her cheeks as she took in a shaky breath. I watched those lashes lift once more and saw the flash of fire in her green eyes. She tilted her head upward and closed the distance between our mouths.
When her lips brushed mine, that voltage sizzled, firing out sparks that spun into the need tightening every cell in my body. With a low growl, I fit my mouth over hers. I didn’t take it too fast, not just yet. This was just a kiss, but I intended to make it one she would never forget. Maybe I was cynical, maybe there hadn’t been much room for desire in my life, and maybe it had been too long since I’d really wanted anyone, but I loved kissing. It was the prelude to everything, yet entirely its own act.
The plush give of her lips underneath mine was intoxicating. The audible hitch of her breath in her throat and the just barely-there gasp when I teased the seam of her lips with my tongue nearly undid me.
Time slowed, and I felt suspended in that fiery mist where nothing else mattered, nothing but a girl who I knew hardly anything about. I knew her name and that she was from Texas, but that didn’t matter. I wanted her fiercely. When her tongue glided against mine like tender silk, I knew she kissed like a dream.
I didn’t know how fast it happened, but somewhere along the way, I turned Madison against the wall as I devoured her mouth. One palm was pressed against the wall as I learned her—the way she flexed against me, and the way she made these little sounds in her throat that drove me fucking wild, each one the lash of a whip against my desire, driving it forward.
By the time we broke apart, I was desperate for air and gulping in ragged breaths, just as she did. When I brought my eyes to hers again, we stared at each other. I saw my shock reflected in hers. I didn’t know what it was between us, but it was like nothing I’d ever felt. I couldn’t even hide my fear because, holy hell, what was this?
It took every ounce of restraint and discipline I possessed to move away from the imprint of her soft curves against me. I released my palm where I cupped her nape, my fingers sliding through the silky locks as my hand fell away.
She blinked, giving her head a visible shake as she straightened. “Well, I asked for a kiss, and you delivered,” she finally said, her tone almost wondering.
“Why did you ask me for a kiss?”
Chapter Three
Madison
Because I wanted to, and I’ll never see you again.
My own words echoed in my thoughts
Graham’s eyes skated over my face. I was already plenty hot and bothered, but his intense, searching look sent a fresh shiver over the surface of my skin.
After several beats of my heart, his lips curled up at one corner in a grin that sent butterflies twirling in my belly. Holy smokes. This man knew how to set every cell in my body simmering with fire.
I wanted more—more kisses, more everything, more Graham.
“Well then, Madison Glen, I guess I won’t be seeing you again.”
“It’s not likely,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant when I felt anything but inside.
Graham took a step closer again, and my breath quickened. He lifted a hand, cupping my cheek. His thumb traced a sensual swipe across my bottom lip. I didn’t mean to do what I did next, but the urge was too powerful to resist. I nipped lightly at his thumb before he drew it away.
His eyes widened slightly, and a low laugh rustled in his throat. “I think we might be dangerous together, sweetheart.”
I couldn’t even formulate a reply. My brain cells had immolated.