“What about you?”
My parents would respect my date choice, though honestly they were never that warm to many of them.”
He refilled their glasses from the bottle on the table. “So you brought guys home unworthy of you.”
Three in total, unless her prom date counted, but he’d just been a friend. Sam, the musician, sprang to mind as the biggest wrong she’d liked, but she said, “They were all interesting in their own way.”
He handed her glass back to her. “Interesting doesn’t mean worthy.”
His fingers around the stem of her glass had her crossing her legs. It wasn’t fair to have a crush, be outed as herself and not live out the rest of her fantasy as Galen’s lover. She stared into the wine and asked, “Galen, if we didn’t know each other from work, would we even be here now?”
He scooted near her while the table was cleared. Once they were alone, he asked, “How would we have met then?”
Fantasy time. If she could meet Galen outside of work, where would she choose? Her mind went blank and she couldn’t come up with anything besides the office—or the clinic, which didn’t lead to fantasies. She moved closer to him and this time sensed his body heat which skyrocketed her own temperature. “I don’t know. Perhaps here, at this restaurant.”
Galen reached out and rested his arms beside her as his smoldering gaze melted any defenses she might have near him. “If I saw you tonight for the first time, I’d have gotten over my “no good girl” rule and talked to you.”
Her ears buzzed as her lips ached for him, though she knew they were an impossibility. She stared at his mouth and wished for things to be different. “Wait. No good girl rule? What’s that?”
His lip curled into a dimple. She’d never seen that before and was instantly mesmerized. “After my marriage ended, I wanted nothing to do with any girl that wanted to change me.”
Change. Right. She sipped her wine and told him the one thing that always irked her about him. “Well, if I had to change anything about you, I’d make you lose the cigarettes. They’re bad for you.”
He motioned his hand back and forth “I had one this morning, but I’m trying to quit. I picked up the habit in Paris as a boy.”
“Good.” She tried to remember why they were here in this romantic corner. Work, right? Her mind warned that he hadn’t quite told her whatever he’d been thinking, had he, but she didn’t want to dwell on it. Instead she let the warmth stay in her veins as she asked, “Paris must have been so different. Do you like living in Miami these days?”
He brushed his fingers against hers and slowly took her hand to hold. “I like having my family close by.”
The warm buzz of desire became a strong vibration inside her heart. The House of Morgan sounded more like aristocracy than a family, but she kept that to herself. She’d not ask. “Other than family?”
He lifted their hands and he studied where their palms connected. “I miss small things from different places, but the palm trees are nice.”
Whatever coursed through her right now felt alien. She had never been this turned on from a simple touch. She tried to sound normal despite how much she trembled inside. “I’ve never left Florida, unless you count the world showcase up in Orlando.”
His brow wrinkled as he came closer. “Not the same thing. Do you want to travel?”
Travel. With him. Yes, but she lowered her lashes and stared at him, wishing for far more than she’d even dreamed. “Later. Right now, my mom needs me and I don’t know how my dad will function if something actually happens to her.”
His lips brushed her hand and a jolt rushed through her, causing even more wishes. “That’s hard.”
Oh goodness, she wanted him. She always had, but he was so close right now. She licked her lips. “It is.” She cleared her throat, preferring the fantasy. “Tonight, we’re on a date, so you never know what might happen.”
His eyes widened a little. “This is a date to you?”
Everything about Galen Morgan was sexy and forbidden and desired. His simple sandalwood soap made her weak. “Was it not supposed to be?”
Galen kissed the back of her hand. “I’m not sure what this was, other than I needed to talk to the prettiest girl in the office.”
Whatever the rationale was didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered except them. She pressed herself closer. “Well there’s not a lot of competition.”
“I’d like to kiss you.” Galen leaned down and stared at her.
“Are you asking permission?” Yes. Now. Her eyes fluttered, and she parted her lips.
He came closer and their lips were millimeters apart. “You are free to tell me to get lost. It won’t affect anything.”
Unlikely, but she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I want you to kiss me Galen. I’d like it very much.”
