Page 36 of Tough Call

“If you want to.” From slight lift of his eyebrows, he was hopeful that I would.

“I’ll pack my skates.”

“Perfect. And there’s plenty of other things to do. I’ve been there three times and I still haven’t seen everything.”

“Great. You can show me around. And maybe we can go check out the things you haven’t seen.”

His grin made my toes curl inside my shoes. “Assuming we ever leave the house, you mean.”

I shivered. In that moment, I didn’t give a damn if I ever saw the outside of the place we rented in Spain.

After one more glass of wine apiece, we paid the bill and wandered out into the night. Snow was falling gently, and the street was mostly empty aside from some parked cars. As much as we could ever be in a city this big, we were alone.

I was going to take out my phone and summon a cab, but Madars turned me gently to face him, and my breath hitched when he touched my face. “I don’t know what we’re doing. I don’t have a clue.” He ran his thumb along my cheekbone. “But… I like it.”

I swallowed. “Me too. I like it a lot.”

“Too bad we live so damn far apart.”

“I know. But it isn’t like one of us lives on the moon.” I smiled, and my heart rate kicked up as I added, “And I’ll see you this summer.”

The way his expression brightened made me want to swoon. “You will. We’ll have nothing but time.” He paused, and a mischievous grin took over. “Time and lube.”

I barked a laugh and rolled my eyes, and I was rewarded with a chuckle from him. “So, pack plenty of lube, is what you’re saying?”

He half-shrugged. “I mean, you can buy it there, too, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring some.”

“I’m glad we can buy it there. I don’t think I can fit a fifty-gallon drum in my luggage.”

The way he threw his head back and laughed lit up the whole night. It lit up my whole world.

How did I ever drift away from you?

Hell, maybe we’d needed to drift apart and then find each other again as adults. Maybe we’d needed the time and maturity before we got more involved than we’d been as teenagers.

Whatever the case, we’d found our way back to each other, and I’d never looked forward to a summer like I was looking forward to this one.

Madars glanced at his phone and sighed. “We should get back. It’s late.”

My shoulders dipped. “Yeah. We should. Do you, uh, want to get separate cabs? Or…?”

He pursed his lips. “I think we can ride back together. No one will think much of it, will they?”

“I can’t imagine they will.” I took out my phone. “I’ll get us one.”

Our cab was there in minutes, and shortly after, she dropped us off in front of his hotel. Madars insisted on walking me back to mine, and who was I to object to more time with him?

All too soon, though, we were there, and my God, the temptation was strong to invite him upstairs. Even if we couldn’t fuck, we could spend the whole night together. We’d never done that before, and I loved the idea.

But no, we’d want to fuck, and we’d be frustrated all to hell if we were in the same bed and couldn’t do anything. We needed sleep. We both had to be sharp tomorrow. We had to be professionals.

No matter how tempting it was.

I turned to him, ready to say goodbye for the night, but something in his eyes brought me up short. As we stood alone in the falling snow, Madars looked around the deserted street, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. There was a hint of nerves in his expression, but also determination. When he faced me again, the determination had won over most of the nerves, and I knew exactly what he wanted when he tugged me in closer.

The last time we’d stolen a kiss on the streets of Prague, it had been hungry and needy, hidden down a back alley. I’d seriously entertained dragging him off somewhere so we could fuck.

This time…