Page 127 of The Accidental Innkeeper

She opened her mouth to say something, to clarify or to add footnotes, but I didn’t give her the chance.

I stood and crossed the space between us in two strides, reaching for her hand and pulling her gently but decisively to her feet.

She gasped, more surprised than alarmed. “What are you doing?”

I held her tightly in my grip. She was warm, solid, and real. I noticed she didn’t try to yank out of my hold. Good.

“You talk too much, New York,” I said quietly.

Her eyes darkened. “It’s how I’m wired.”

I leaned in and kissed her, taking her mouth like I already knew where I belonged.

She froze for half a heartbeat, and then her hands fisted in my shirt as she kissed me back. Hard.

I pulled back just enough to see her face. Her pupils were blown wide, her breath shallow and lips parted like she’d forgotten what she was about to say. I saw heat there, real, unmistakable desire, clear and unfiltered.

It matched what was burning through me, steady and sure.

Yeah. She was mine.

27

SARAH

Itook a step back, breathing heavily like I’d just speed-walked three blocks while late for a meeting I didn’t want to attend. That was not supposed to happen. That was not on the agenda. There had been no warning.

I flicked a finger at him. “I knew it. You’ve got superpowers.”

He threw his head back and laughed, a full, unguarded laugh that rumbled out of him like it surprised even him. It did something to my chest and my knees and several other places I wasn’t emotionally prepared to inventory.

“No normal man kisses like that,” I went on because apparently my mouth had decided we were doing this now. “That was illegal in at least three states. Possibly a federal offense.”

He watched me, his eyes heavy-lidded, dark and intent, like he was enjoying every second of my unraveling. It was doing unspeakable things to my lady V, who had apparently defected and joined his side.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

“What question?” I asked innocently. I absolutely knew what question. But if I was going to spiral, I was going to do it with flair.

He stepped closer, slowly and deliberately, like he knew exactly what that did to me. Damn those superpowers. “Do you want me to stay,” he said quietly. “With you.”

My brain short-circuited. So I did the only reasonable thing. I pretended to think about it.

“That depends,” I said, tapping my chin like I was weighing mortgage rates.

His mouth twitched. “On what.”

“On whether this is a limited-time offer,” I said. “Because I don’t do well with bait-and-switch men. Or men who vanish. Or men who kiss like that and then pretend they didn’t just rearrange my internal organs.”

He smiled, slow and dangerous. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Also,” I added quickly, “you snore?”

“I don’t.”

“Everyone says that.”

He leaned in a fraction. “Lightly.”