“Hold your horses, jeesh,” I muttered. I glanced out the window and could see that the world was completely white. Streetlights glinted off the snow and it was really pretty.
Who in the hell would be out in this weather? A complete moron most likely.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“If you pound on that door one more time I’m going to shove something uncomfortable up unmentionable places,” I said loudly. I quickly grabbed a mint and popped it in my mouth. Even when woken from a very deep sleep, a girl had to think about her oral hygiene.
I pulled open the door and froze, my scowl melting into an expression of total shock.
“Mitch?”
He was standing in the hallway with melting snow in his hair, his cheeks red from the cold.
“Hey, Gracie. Please don’t shove something uncomfortable in a place that’s unmentionable,” he chuckled, his hand braced against the doorframe.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I stepped out into the hallway, not sure if I should let him in or not. He was looking a little on the frantic side and that made me nervous. What in the world?
“Did you drive? The roads look awful!” I scolded. “There’s this handy invention known as a telephone, you know.” I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes.
Mitch’s eyes heated and I had to take a step back. I was still waking up and I wondered, on some level, if I was still sleeping. Because he looked at me like he wanted to devour me. Eat me whole. He was a wet dream come to life.
“What I have to say can’t be said over the phone,” he rasped, his voice low and rough.
Nope, this was real all right. The cold blast of air drifting down the hallway was making my nipples hard and the hair stand up on my arms.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?” I fired each question in rapid succession. I was worried now. Why else would this man be standing outside my door in the middle of the night during a snowstorm?
Mitch lifted up his hand and I realized he was holding my note.
Oh, right. My note.
I chewed on my bottom lip, not sure what to think. But I felt a fluttering of excitement. Of hope. Damn, my knees were starting to tremble.
“You didn’t need to come over here tonight, Mitch. We could have talked tomorrow. When it’s not dumping down snow,” I chastised with an uneasy laugh.
“Didn’t you want me to come?” he asked, frowning. “I thought you did. You wrote our code.”
“I did use the code. I just was expecting a text or a call. Not a full on invasion,” I joked. Why was I joking? This was serious! Shit!
Mitch’s expression turned almost feral. His eyes swept up and down my body in a way that could only be described as territorial.
“Let me inside,” he commanded.
He commanded. I think I liked his bossy side.
I shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold sweeping into my apartment from the hallway.
“I—uh—I don’t—” I was stuttering. Mitch Abrams had taken away my ability to formulate actual sentences. He had knocked me off balance. What else was new? The bastard.
“I’m coming in, Gracie,” he said firmly and when I didn’t move aside something in his face changed. It cracked slightly and his vulnerability shown through.
“Don’t tell me to leave,” he begged, his lips trembling slightly, his hands shaky as he reached up to cup my face.
“Please, let me come inside. I need—” His words cracked and broke apart. He shook his head. “Just don’t make me go.” He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine.
I couldn’t get my thoughts together. Things were happening so fast that I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around everything.
I had been asleep, curled up on my couch, now I was standing in front of Mitch and he was begging me, no he was pleading with me, not to turn him away.
It would be so easy to drown in this. To lose myself in the intensity of the moment that I had been waiting for.
But there was something we had to think about.
Someone…