Just say you liked it. Say it. Make her happy.
But something in him held him back. He couldn’t seem to make himself say the words just to please her. She deserved better than that.
He deserved better than that.
So instead, he said, “Let’s go for a walk.”
The look on her face was a mixture of surprise and hurt, but he had to get away from everyone else. He didn’t want to argue with her. He wanted to encourage her. And to do that, he needed to be alone with her, so that he could say what he really thought without an audience. After a long moment in which they held each other’s gaze, she moved toward the counter.
“I’ll get my purse.”
He shook his head. “You won’t need it. Let’s just…let’s just walk.”
Luis, Shen, and Vinnie were looking at him like he’d gone insane. Which, maybe he had. But he wasn’t backing down. She nodded. Without another word, they walked together toward the door, then stepped outside, leaving three shocked guys behind them.
Hell. He’d shocked himself.
He started walking, expecting her to follow, but she just stood there, arms crossed over her chest. Well. So she had a mind of her own, after all. Not that he hadn’t suspected it. But he’d thought she was the type to take their relationship as boss and employee pretty seriously, even if none of his other employees did. Based on that, he’d assumed that now, too, she’d let him set the pace and take her cue from him. He looked back at her.
“Look, it was really considerate of you to bring me out here so you could fire me in private. More or less,” she humphed. “But don’t torture me by actually making me walk with you for a while before you do it.”
Wow, she was gorgeous when she was angry. Not that he liked that she was angry. Especially since he had been the one to make her that way. But it was so much more attractive, to see her like this. Passionate. Intense. Not worried about following rules or being on her best behavior.
But underneath that anger, he could see it.
Fear.
He stepped closer. “What makes you think I’m going to fire you?”
She harrumphed. “You haven’t done anything except put down my music. You don’t like it. That’s clear. You’re only going along with this because-because, well, I don’t even know! But I’ve seen the way you look at me. It’s obvious that—”
“That I want you,” he finished for her, and she stopped cold, her mouth open as she stared at him.
“That you—” she began, but again he cut her off.
“Yeah, I want you. That’s how I look at you.”
She didn’t say anything this time, just kept staring at him in disbelief. At least she wasn’t sputtering and telling him he was a freak this time. He took it as a promising sign.
He stepped even closer, and he heard her breath hitch.
Good. Yes. You do want me. Path of least resistance.
“Maybe we don’t agree on a lot of things,” he murmured. “But I’ve seen the way you look at me. Like you see me. Like—” He stopped himself before he could say too much. It was one thing to admit that he was attracted to her. It was another to start talking about how he felt a connection with her deep inside his soul. That would send her running for sure. Instead, he finished with, “Like maybe you want me, too.”
He didn’t touch her. He wouldn’t touch her. Not unless she touched him first. He stood there, inches away from her, holding his breath.
He’d taken a risk. Now he’d have to see if it would pay off.
His heart was beating so hard that it felt like he was being punched from the inside. He waited…waited…
After what seemed like an eternity, she raised her hand. Brushed her fingertip down his arm. And suddenly, he could breathe again. The slide of her hand, down to encircle his wrist, was like a slow-motion dream, followed by a gentle pull. So gentle, in fact, that he barely felt it. But his body knew what his mind was having trouble processing, and he leaned down as she rose on her toes, their lips meeting in a hot, wet melding of mouths.
She kissed him like she really wanted to, and it made him crazy, to feel her want. She tasted wild and passionate and everything he imagined he could ever desire. His hands came up, settling around her waist, as her rubbed over his arms, bringing the bodies closer.
She whimpered, pushing even harder against his body. She grabbed the collar of his T-shirt, like the first night they’d met and she’d been touching him everywhere, and he broke the kiss to groan with pleasure. He’d dreamed about her doing this.
But the break in the kiss must have startled her, because she pulled back, slipping from his arms with a gasp. Her eyes were wide, and her fingers flew up to her lips, pressing against them as though trying to push the echo of his kiss into silence. “Chris, I—”
Don’t say you don’t know what came over you. Don’t say you’re sorry.
He didn’t want to hear it.