Page 105 of Tempted Hearts
And now he was looking at me… like that.
“How did you do?”
“Truthfully?”
“Always.”
“I’m finding it slightly difficult to concentrate.”
I knew the reason. Might be guarded in many ways, but he wasn’t hiding his interest in me at all.
The feeling was mutual.
“Do you want me to grab another round of coffee for the last sprint?”
Cole looked up at the register and then back to me, and then—did the bastard actually lick his lips? It was very subtle, but for a second, I saw that tongue and knew what he could do with it.
“Cole…”
“Jules, when you say my name that way, do you have any idea what I want to do with you?”
My stomach did a little flip. “I can guess.”
“Can you now? Give it a shot.”
Oh boy. Flirting with a guy as intelligent as him, and who knew how to deliver, was tricky—but also so much fun.
I couldn’t ever remember feeling so alive.
“Are you thinking about walking me back to my house?” I asked, extra innocently.
“For starters.”
Surely my cheeks were beginning to turn pink.
“I could put the rest in writing, but I don’t think I can say it out loud.”
Cole hesitated for a beat and then closed his laptop. He proceeded to put it in his messenger bag, along with the notepad and pen. Slow. Deliberate. In a way that set every nerve ending in my body firing away.
He stood up, slung the bag over his shoulder, and walked the two steps toward me. With his hand, he guided me inward on the booth, proceeding to sit down next to me. Cole tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned forward, smelling very Cole-like.
I could hear my heart pounding away, anticipating what he was about to say, knowing it would be naughty.
“Let me put it in words for you. We’re going back to your place. I’m going to tear every inch of clothing off your body, and then use the tie from that cute pink robe I saw hanging on the door of your bathroom.”
I didn’t dare look at him, but instead stared straight ahead at my computer.
“I’m going to tie your hands above your head so that you can’t push me into you as I’m edging you. Start, and then stop. Start, stop. When you’re sufficiently begging for release, only then will I consider it.”
And then, as if he had sat next to me and offered to refill our coffees, he stood up and waited patiently, with a look that told me every word he said was true.
I’d never done that before, or anything kinky really. I imagined myself as he described and then wondered if I should ask what was bound to be a really stupid question. Grabbing my stuff, I followed him outside and waited until there was nobody near.
“I have a confession.”
Cole was still looking at me the way he had been in The Coffee Cabin. It was as if my entire body felt alive, like I could run a marathon.
Maybe a half marathon.
