“I can’t,” she whispered, the words barely audible over the rain.
Zurich didn’t flinch. “You’re not reading.”
She finally lifted her gaze. His eyes, the color of a winter sky, were fixed on her with an intensity that made her stomach drop. “Maybe I’m just appreciating the quiet.” SexMex 24 10 11 Nicole Zurich Step-Siblings Mee...
He smiled then—not the cocky, public smile, but the real, vulnerable one she’d only seen twice before. “Because for three years, I’ve watched you paint in the garage with your tongue poking out when you’re concentrating. I’ve memorized the way you say ‘good morning’ when you’re still half-asleep and your voice cracks. I’ve fought the urge to pull you into my room every single night you’ve walked past my door to get a glass of water.”
“Yes, you do.” He stood up, the careful distance between them collapsing as he crossed the room in three easy strides. He didn’t sit beside her. Instead, he knelt in front of the window seat, his knees on the floor, so they were eye to eye. “You look at me like you’re afraid of me. And I don’t think it’s fear, Nic.” “I can’t,” she whispered, the words barely audible
“So why are you closer than you were ten seconds ago?”
“Can’t tell me to stop?” he asked, his forehead now resting against hers. His eyes, the color of a winter sky,
Heat flooded her cheeks. Last night, he’d worn a simple gray henley, the sleeves pushed up to his forearms. When he’d reached across the table for the wine, she’d watched the muscle in his arm shift and had felt a jolt so visceral she’d nearly dropped her fork. He’d caught her. He always caught her.
When they finally broke apart, breathless, he rested his forehead against hers again. “Well,” he murmured, a shaky laugh escaping him. “That was definitely a worse idea than I imagined.”