Page 10 of Irresistible


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“I like the way you taste,” I say.

He laughs. “I like the way you taste, too, Chloe.”

Chapter Seven

Austin

Istay with Chloe for as long as I can that night. We cuddle together in her bed, sleepily talking for a while. She tells me about school, about her dream to be a travel photographer, and then asks me about my life. I tell her about what my days are like. She asks if I’ll come visit her and I promise her I will.

And then, eventually, Chloe falls asleep in my arms. I stay in her bed, fighting off sleep for as long as I can. But eventually it’s a losing battle.

I force myself to slide out of her bed and sneak back into my own room.

In the morning, I wake feeling tired from the lack of sleep. But I also feel incredible as the memories of last night with Chloe flood my mind. A few minutes later, I’m in the bathroom brushing my teeth and I see Chloe start to walk by the open bathroom door. She slows to a stop and smiles, laughing as I hurriedly rinse out the toothpaste and dry my mouth.

“Hey,” I say, stepping toward her. She glances down the hall to make sure there’s no one around, then steps into the bathroom and rises up on her toes to give me a kiss.

“Hi,” she says, smiling as her hand drifts up my chest.

“I had a really, really good time with you last night,” I murmur.

“Me too,” she says quietly. She gives me another quick kiss, then backs away and steps out of the bathroom. “See you downstairs.”

We get through breakfast without raising anybody’s suspicions, as far as I can tell. It’s probably because Chloe and I both ignore each other. It’s almost physically painful to not look at her, to not smile at her, but there’s no way I’m screwing this up.

Soon, though, it’s time to say goodbye to her. Rob and Denise and the kid and I have to hit the road—Denise has something back in the city she needs to be back for.

“When are you flying out, Chloe?” I ask as we get our stuff packed into the car, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Later this afternoon,” she says. “It was good to see you, Austin.”

“You too,” I say, the desire to kiss her burning like hell in my chest.

Then, to my surprise, Chloe wraps her arms around me and gives me a hug.

“Call me,” she murmurs against my ear.

I give her a slight nod. I want to say something more to her—I don’t know what, just something—but my eyes catch her brother looking at us, so I just clear my throat and step away to put my bag in the truck. I say goodbye to Rob’s folks before taking my seat in the car.

Rob doesn’t say anything on the drive back, but I can feel a slight tension between us. I know he’s got to be wondering what that hug from Chloe was about.

Then again, Chloe hugged everybody goodbye—maybe it wasn’t as suspicious as I thought.

Either way, I’m going to be as careful as fuck.

I feel moreand more guilty as the week progresses. By the end of the workweek, I can barely look Rob in the eye at work. It’s not just about what Chloe and I did that night. It’s also about the fact that I’ve been talking to her on the phone every night since.

Guilt aside, though, it’s been a good week. Those phone calls with Chloe have been the highlight of my days. In just a handful of days, it feels like we’ve talked about everything; it feels like we trulyknoweach other now.

And I can’t fucking wait to see her again.

We’ve made plans for me to fly down Friday evening for the weekend. It’ll be a short visit, but you can bet we’re going to make the most of it.

We’re going to soak upeverylast second we have together.

It’s almost three o’clock that Friday afternoon—I’ve cleared my schedule and am about to leave to head straight to the airport—when Rob stops by my desk and asks me when I’m doing with the rest of my day. Fresh guilt flares in my chest.

“Just some personal stuff,” I say, as I keep gathering my things. “You doing anything this weekend?”