Page 37 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
“How about a movie?”
“Dinner and a movie? How classic.” I handed him the TV remote and stood from the bed.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“My chair.” I pointed to it in the corner.
“No.” He shifted carefully to the far edge of the bed. “Not tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” My heart went from normal to racing in a snap. I took my place at his side, sticking close to my edge of the bed so I wouldn’t crowd him or his wounds. One leg was hanging off toward the floor. My elbow was braced under my side, stiffly keeping my balance.
There was no way I’d make it through a whole movie like this. My arm would be asleep in twenty minutes.
“I’m not going to bite,” Milo teased. “Get over here.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
I inched closer, lining up my right side with his left. We were touching. Shoulder to shoulder. Hip to hip. Thigh to thigh. The contact made me nervous. My breath was coming in short pants and I couldn’t fill my lungs. The heat from Milo’s side was scorching.
God, his smell. He smelled so . . . male. I couldn’t describe it better. It was comforting and exhilarating. It was unlike anything I’d ever smelled before.
Milo turned on the television, finding a channel with a romantic comedy. “This okay?”
“Um . . . sure.”
I knew this movie. It was one I’d watched a dozen times. And it had one of the hottest sex scenes I’d ever seen in a PG-13 movie. How was I supposed to watch an on-screen couple romping naked in bed while I was sitting this close to Milo?
The movie flew by like it was on fast-forward and, as the scene approached, I fought to keep myself from squirming. Maybe I could go to the bathroom during the scene. Or take out the garbage. Stuck in my own head, I hadn’t given myself enough time to make a decent excuse. The sex scene started before I was ready and my face flamed.
The couple’s kiss was hot and wet as they stripped one another bare. They were wild for one another. Frantic.
I wanted to kiss Milo with the same reckless abandon. I wanted to feel his soft lips on my skin. To have those fingers roam my curves and cup my breasts. I wanted the heat of his skin to brand my own.
A deep throb settled in my core, a sensation not caused by the movie, but by this incredible man at my side. It pulsed so hard I was sure he could feel it shaking the bed. It was nearly as strong as my heartbeat, thundering through all my veins.
Thump. Pulse. Thump. Pulse.
I crossed one ankle over the other, squeezing my thighs together. Stop it. Oh, please stop.
This ache was torture. The one man I wanted with every breath I took I couldn’t touch. At least, not until he was no longer a patient here. And then, he’d be gone. Back to Prescott, Montana, a town that, despite its recent troubles, sounded remarkably appealing.
Would I get one kiss before he left? Just give me one. One kiss to remember forever.
“Sara.” Milo’s whisper startled me.
“Yeah.” I kept my eyes on the screen.
“Look at me.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
If I looked at him, I’d kiss him. I’d throw all inhibitions aside and lose myself entirely.
“Sara.” Milo’s hand came up to my cheek, framing it. His palm was hot as he slowly turned my chin so I had no choice but to meet his gaze.
It broke me.
