“I’m so sorry, John.”
“It could have been worse, actually. Assaulting an officer comes with a pretty heavy sentence for obvious reasons. My lawyer suspected the judge was aware of the rumors about the cop in question, and that my story was probably true. She went easy—or at least easier—on me.”
“There’s been no one since?”
“A few hookups, nothing that meant anything.”
“Because you’re still grieving.” Which in a way made Kate sad too. If he still wasn’t over his wife, then what hope did they have?
I know grief. It’s what he said that first night they talked.
He looked at her and shook his head. “That’s just it, Kate. I think that’s why I freaked out. When I saw you, this wave of lust and need came over me—and that’s when I knew I wasn’t grieving anymore. I didn’t want to fuck you, Kate. I wanted to make love to you, sleep with you, wake up with you, make you breakfast. All kinds of shit I hadn’t thought about in years. I wanted to do all that with this classy, sophisticated woman who probably was going to take one look at me and run the opposite way when she found out my story, and yes… I freaked out.”
“Well, I’m still me, and now I know your story—your real story—and I’m not going anywhere.”
John turned and leaned in to kiss her, and while it wasn’t as intense as their last kiss, it was just as pleasurable. This kiss didn’t scream one and done. This kiss said they had all the time in the world.
“Where do you want to go next, Kate?” John asked, barely releasing her lips.
“Where do you want to take me?” she asked boldly. Even though she held her breath after she said it.
“To bed. I want to take you to bed.”
“Then I guess that’s where I’m going.”
He smiled and brought his cold hand to rest against her cheek. “Where did you come from?”
“Your phone,” she reminded him.
“I really love my phone,” he said even as he kissed her again. Then as if a timer had gone off in his head, like they had to be somewhere fast, he stood and pulled her off the bench and settled her on the back of his bike.
She wrapped her arms around his middle, giving him a gentle squeeze, and he looked over his shoulder.
“Kate.”
“Yes, John?”
“You’re going to need to hold on tight for the ride.”
Somehow she didn’t think he was talking about their ride back to his place.
“Oh my.”
Chapter Seven
They made their way easily and smoothly out of the park and back into the heart of the city. The recently rejuvenated area of Northern Liberties, with its many bars and restaurants, seemed to wink and sparkle as they drove by. John however wasn’t distracted enough to look. He had one objective in mind, and that was getting the woman seated behind him into bed and underneath him as quickly as possible.
He pulled into the parking garage that was the first floor of his apartment building. It was an older building that had recently gotten a facelift. Lucky for him, he’d signed his rental agreement back before it became chic to live in this section of the city, so his rent was nowhere close to what the apartments were getting now. Which was important considering he lived somewhere else three months out of the year and ended up having to pay double in those months.
Kate handed him his extra helmet back and he led her upstairs to the second floor. Every once in a while checking to see she was still behind him. Her cheeks were as red as her hair, and he wondered if that was because she was thinking about what lay ahead or just a reaction to the cold air on her face.
He was going to need to warm her up to find out.
Opening the door, he stepped back to let her inside. He wasn’t too worried about what she might think. While the furniture was secondhand, it was all clean and neat. His one indulgence was the forty-inch flat screen TV, but other than that it wasn’t like he had a lot of pictures on the walls or knickknacks lying about.
All that stuff was back in his summer home down at the Jersey Shore, the one he’d made with Becky. He’d felt no urge to have that stuff follow him here, so looking at it from someone else’s eyes his place might seem rather Spartan.
If she was doing any kind of assessment, it didn’t show on her face. In fact if he had to categorize what she looked like now, it would be nervous.
He’d rushed this. He should have taken her out again. Let the tension build between them until she was certain she was ready. It’s just when he asked her where she wanted to go, he thought her answer sounded a lot like bed.
She had to know how much he wanted her. She had to know that’s what he’d been thinking.
“Kate, if you’re not ready…”