The little boy and his father had been over for dinner last night. Just the thought of them made her smile. Warmth seeped into her chilled bones and brought a calmness she desperately lacked.
She’d seen a lot of her cute neighbor since his equally cute father had kissed her senseless at the sanctuary Sunday afternoon.
On Monday, she’d invited them over for spaghetti and afterward, they’d made masks out of paper plates and put several of Noah’s wooden puzzles together that he’d excitedly brought over.
Tuesday, she’d gone to their house and played superheroes in the backyard, then dined on delicious grilled chicken ala Dante. Amanda liked when he grilled because they were at hisplace for that, and she got to spend some alone time with the handsome guy after he put Noah to bed.
Their kiss on the couch had turned to two, then morphed into an embrace that was hot and heavy and heavenly…until Noah called down that he needed some water and a story.
After ten minutes had gone by and no Dante, Amanda left, but not before placing a note on the couch stating that they’d “revisit this” another time.
Tonight was Dante’s turn to grill. She was hoping they’d pick up where they left off on Tuesday.
Heat trickled through her as she remembered how incredible it had felt to have his hard, muscular body on top of her as he pressed her down on the couch.
A knock sounded on the door behind her, and she not only jumped, she yelped.
“Amanda? Are you okay?” Dante asked, his voice a welcome relief and soothing balm to her out-of-control pulse.
“Yeah,” she said, fumbling to unlock the door and open it. “Sorry. My mind was elsewhere. Come on in.”
Entering her house after she moved aside, he set his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “You sure you’re okay? You’re shaking.”
She smirked. “You have that effect on me, big guy.”
His gaze narrowed. “Good to know, but what’s going on?”
Darn. She’d hoped to keep her stupidity and paranoia to herself.
She shrugged. “A few minutes ago, someone knocked on my front door but when I opened it, no one was around. Unless that was you?”
He shook his head. “Stay here.” He released her and headed back outside. Two minutes later, he returned. “Nothing seems out of place.”
“Didn’t think so,” she said. “I figured whomever it was had left by the time I answered. Or it was a couple of kids playing a prank.”
He glanced at the clock on her microwave. “Yeah, high school would’ve let out by now.”
She nodded. It was half past three. Then she frowned. “Why are you home? Is everything okay?”
As far as she knew, he worked until he picked Noah up at five.
“Yeah. We got done with a security job in Houston a little early today,” he said. “So I came home to kill some time before getting Noah. But when I saw your car in the driveway, I thought I’d pop in and ask how your phone screening went today. You look really nice, by the way.”
Heat flooded her face as it always did when he complimented her. “Thank you. Even though it was over the phone, I wanted to look presentable because it would make mefeelpresentable.” For that reason, she’d worn a simple wrap dress in a pretty shade of green. “And I think it went well. I asked a few questions and answered theirs in a decent amount of time. Hopefully, they found me engaging and intelligent, and a perfect fit for their school.”
“How could they not? I find you engaging and intelligent.” Smiling, he tugged her close. “And a perfect fit right here.”
She noticed she was slightly shorter without shoes on, and their good parts touched in a different place.
“Mmm…me too,” she said, before his mouth covered hers in a kiss she’d waited two days to taste.
Both of them had mutually agreed not to kiss in front of Noah, which turned out to be smart, given the way her body took control and threw caution to the wind the instant his lips touched hers.
Like now.
Need rushed through her, funneling to all her good parts. She moaned and pressed closer, tugging his shirt free of his pants so she could caress his deliciously hard abs underneath.
He broke the kiss and stilled her hands. “Need to slow things down…before I can’t.”
