Although it turned out she had to.
His lips were at her ear, and he didn’t move them far. Instead he pressed his mouth to the sensitive skin of her neck, at the edge of her jaw. Suddenly her knees were like jelly, but strong hands at her waist steadied her.
The sensation of his lips against her neck and his hands against her body was so good, and April’s eyes slid shut as a sigh escaped from her mouth.
Her fingers untangled themselves from the sleeves of her jumper and reached for Hugh blindly, hitting the solid wall of his stomach and sliding up and around to the breadth of his back.
Hugh dotted her jaw with kisses that were firm but soft. And glorious. But not even close to enough. More than almost anything, she wanted to turn her head to meet his mouth with hers—but she didn’t. Because, even more than she wanted that, she wanted this anticipation to last for ever. This promise of Hugh’s kiss that, she realised, had been growing from the moment they’d met.
But he was definitely going to kiss her now—this mysterious man who was so different to anyone she’d ever met—and the wonder of that she wanted to hold on to. Just a few seconds longer.
By the time his mouth reached hers April felt about as solid as air. His hands pressed her closer, and then her own hands drew his chest against her breasts.
His mouth was hot against hers, and confident.
If she’d been tentative, or if her brain had been capable of worrying about her kissing technique or other such nonsense, his assuredness would have erased it all.
But, as it was, April didn’t feel at all unsure. In fact, Hugh made her feel that this kiss was about as right as anything could get.
His tongue brushed a question against her bottom lip and her own tongue was her crystal-clear answer. Her hands slid up his chest to entwine behind his neck and in his hair, tugging him even closer.
Their kiss was as intense as every moment between them, and as volatile. He kissed her hard, and soft, and voraciously. As if he could kiss her for ever, and as if they had all the time in the world.
But April was impatient.
She took the lead now, kissing him with everything she had and more. More than she’d thought she was capable of: with more passion, less control.
This was raw and passionate and...near desperate.
April wanted to be as close as she could be to him. She wanted him pressed up hard against her. She wanted to feel his solidity and his strength.
She wanted to feel his skin.
Her hands drifted down his back, skimming wide shoulder blades and the indentations of his spine. And then they slid beneath jacket and T-shirt to land at the small of his back. Against smooth, gorgeous, hot skin.
His hands followed a similar path, and his touch made her sigh into his mouth as it moved against her back, her stomach, and then upwards—against her ribs to the underside of her—
Something vibrated and Hugh went still.
He broke his lips away from hers, but not far. She could feel him breathe against her mouth as he spoke.
‘My phone,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Me too,’ she said, all husky.
His smile was crooked. ‘Yeah...’
Then he stepped away, and her skin felt bereft without his touch.
He fished his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. It appeared to have been a notification vibration, not a call, and he turned slightly to scroll through his phone.
When he turned back to her, he just looked at her for long moments. At her still slightly askew jumper, at her lips that felt swollen, at her eyes that she knew were inviting him to pick up exactly where they’d just finished.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he said, ‘That probably shouldn’t have happened.’
April blinked, her brain still foggy. ‘Why?’
‘Because you work for me. And your husband just left you.’
She shrugged. ‘You definitely didn’t take advantage of me,’ she said. ‘And the husband thing—that’s my problem, not yours. Nothing about what just happened was a problem for me.’
Mila and Ivy’s encouragement fuelled her. For all her misgivings up until their kiss, she didn’t regret it one bit now. She felt amazing: alive, and strong, and sexy and feminine...
‘I don’t want a relationship with you, April.’
Ouch.
It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did.
‘And you thought the desperate divorcee must be keen to jump straight into another relationship?’ Her tone was tart. She didn’t give him time to respond. ‘And also, that if I did, I’d want a relationship with you? That’s rather presumptuous.’
April crossed her arms.
His forehead crinkled as he considered her words. ‘I suppose it is,’ he said. ‘I apologise.’
April nodded sharply. ‘Just to be clear—the last thing I want is a relationship. I was with my ex for a long time—I need to just be me for a while. That being said, I really liked what we just did. I’d like to do it again.’
She didn’t know where this bravado came from. She was practically propositioning Hugh Bennell. In fact, she definitely was. She was propositioning him.
Because that kiss... She’d never experienced anything like it. She’d never felt like this before and heat continued to traverse through her veins simply from the memory of his mouth against hers. His body against hers.
‘I’d like to do it again, too,’ he said. His gaze was steady and his words measured—as if he’d carefully considered her proposal before constructing his answer. ‘But, I’d also like to be clear. I date, but that’s it. I never take it further. I’m never anyone’s boyfriend. I’ll never be someone’s husband. You need to be aware of that before this goes any further.’
April found herself fighting a smile in response to his seriousness. ‘That seems a bit extreme,’ she said. ‘Never? Really?’
‘Really,’ he said.
He didn’t elaborate. He still looked at her with a determinedly serious expression.
‘Well,’ April said, smiling now, ‘I must say my experience of marriage wasn’t ultimately positive, so maybe you’re onto something.’
His lips quirked now. ‘It would seem so.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I can deal with that. No relationships. Deal.’
As she’d told Hugh, it was exactly the right thing for her. Quite honestly, the last thing she wanted was to leap from one relationship into another. But for some silly reason, Hugh’s rejection of anything more with her still stung.
There was another noisy buzz as his phone, now on the kitchen bench, vibrated again.
‘I need to go,’ he said. ‘I have a meeting. Can we do dinner? Tonight? I can email you the details.’
He was in business mode now, as efficient as his instructions and his emails.
‘Sure,’ she said. ‘But I only have a few hours before my second job.’
He paused, looking up from his phone. ‘How much extra would I need to pay you so you could quit that job?’ he asked.
‘Ah,’ April said, ‘that sounds like a conflict of interests. I don’t think HR would approve of that.’
‘I own the company,’