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Moments later, she closed her apartment door. She gestured in a circle. “See, I’m inside and I’m completely fine.” Her lips twitched.
“I see that,” I said lightly. “I hope you can understand why I might’ve been worried.”
She shrugged, but looked away.
“You fainted. Again,” I pointed out.
“I have a syncope disorder. It’s part of my life. They don’t happen too often.”
“How long have you had these?”
“Since I was a teenager. I have these occasional clusters. It’s nothing dramatic.”
“I don’t like it,” I stated.
Tish rested her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t precisely like it either. It’s just my life.”
It was obvious that she was completely okay now. Her eyes were shooting sparks, and her cheeks were flushed. Once again, I was startled at my body’s reaction to her. I wasn’t thinking when I took a step closer.
I mirrored her, resting my hands on my hips loosely and narrowing my eyes. I felt my lips curl into a slight smile as we stared each other down. For a few beats, her eyes widened before she burst out laughing and her hands dropped from her hips.
Her laugh was low and raspy. Heat whipped through me, need sinking its claws in deeper.
“What’s so funny?” I chuckled as my own hands dropped from my hips.
“I guess we’re having a stare-down.”
Her laugh petered out. Her gaze was bemused when she leveled her eyes with mine again.
We were maybe two feet apart. I could feel the echoing beat of my heart down to the soles of my feet. I took another step closer. “Tell me something,” I heard myself saying.
“What?”
“If I told you I wanted to kiss you, would you want me to?”
Chapter Nine
Tish
If I told you I wanted to kiss you, would you want me to?
Griffin’s question ricocheted through my thoughts. I stared into his smoky gaze and tried to take a breath. My lungs seemed to have forgotten how to function. I felt lightheaded, breathless, and hot and tingly all over.
Aside from my lungs forgetting their job, my brain was filled with static, and my belly felt all fluttery. I definitely wasn’t thinking when I took a step closer to him.
I finally managed to suck in the tiniest bit of air as I stared up at him. With my brain completely offline, I breathlessly whispered, “Yes, I would.”
“Would you want a kiss right this minute?”
My head bobbed up and down. I didn’t know who moved first, but we moved toward each other, erasing what little distance was left between us. Griffin was tall with broad shoulders. His entire presence was one of strength and protectiveness.
I felt encompassed by his strength. I cataloged details about him. The way his dark blond hair had flickers of gold like burnished sunshine. The little flashes of silver shimmering in his gray eyes. The bold, straight line of his nose, the sharp angles of his cheekbones, and the square edge of his jaw. Even his lips were delineated. Nothing about him was soft. He was all masculine.
As the seconds ticked by, my heartbeat began echoing through my entire body. I lifted my hand and placed it on his chest. I could feel the hard thump of his heart against my palm, and the warmth of his chest through his cotton T-shirt where his jacket was hanging open.
His eyes stayed locked with mine. It felt as if he was searching, almost reaching right into me, and grabbing a hold of me, kicking away my defenses, latching onto a thread of need, of wishfulness, of vulnerability and holding on tight.
I felt the electrifying brush of his fingers along my cheek just before he smoothed a lock of hair away. His touch simmered over my skin, leaving sparks dancing on the outer shell of my ear. His fingers trailed like a flame down the side of my neck. His thumb dragged along the edge of my jaw. I felt as if I were tumbling into the moment with a fire burning through me, liquid all over as I stared up at him.
