Just Once More.... Mira Lyn Kelly

pale beneath the fading light as she looked away, shame haunting her eyes. Making his gut twist for asking her.

      “He said being with me was like being caught in a riptide. He didn’t realize how dangerous I was until it was almost too late.”

       Dangerous.

      Garrett’s teeth ground down as he struggled for patience. Told himself not to try to look this guy up so he could pay him a visit. Have a few words.

      But, damn it, what a piece of work.

      When she spoke again it was so quietly he almost missed it.

      “I thought we wanted the same things. That we were in it together. But I was wrong.”

      And though she didn’t say the word he knew it was there in her head. Again.

      Garrett gripped her shoulders, pulling her into his chest so his words would fall from his lips to her ears. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting those things, Nichole. In the past, you just wanted them with the wrong guys. But you’re a different woman now. With more life experience. You won’t make the same mistakes. You won’t get burned again.”

      Catching the delicate turn of her jaw in his palm, he met her eyes.

      “When you meet the right guy—one who actually deserves you—you won’t be too young. You won’t be caught up in a bunch of empty promises. You’ll be ready and so will he.”

      And maybe Garrett would get invited to the wedding, because even though he’d been with her like this, he couldn’t imagine their not being friends when the rest was over. Couldn’t imagine not being able to talk and laugh with her.

      Okay, right now he couldn’t imagine not being able to put his hands on her or move inside her body, but that part would go away when this thing between them finally ran its course.

      Someday some guy was going to get everything he’d ever wanted in this woman. But in the here and now, at least for a little while, Nichole was his. And he was going to make every minute they had together count. Starting right now, with getting her mind off the past by distracting her with a short-term future he’d been thinking about for a few weeks now.

      “Until then …” He leaned closer to her ear, so his mouth played around the delicate shell as he spoke, effectively changing the tone of their communication within a few choice words.

      Nichole’s hands tightened against his chest. So sensitive.

      “I’ve got a spectacular idea …”