Page 47 of Come A Little Closer

“What’s your greatest fear?” she asked after smirking at me.

I shrugged. “I honestly haven’t really thought about it, but I’m not a big fan of spiders.”

As I said it, I realized it’d been a mistake. Tallulah was suddenly smirking again and looking mischievous as she did it, like she was plotting something.

Grabbing her arm, I pulled her into a dark corner of one of the rooms. It was one of the furthest in the house and we couldn’t even hear any of the others from here, so I figured it was safe enough to speak freely.

Facing her, I reached for her hands and tugged her to me. “What are you doing later?”

She squeezed my fingers, tipping her head back and stepping into me. “I have to work.”

“What kind of asshole is your boss to expect you to work after hours if you’ve already transformed a whole house today?”

She giggled, twirling the strands of the hair at my nape between her fingers. “He is an asshole, but I kind of like him, so I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do.” I lowered my mouth to hers but didn’t kiss her, simply stopping with my lips less than half an inch away from hers. “I want to see you.”

“I’ll be working on the festival preparations at my place,” she murmured, lifting her nose to touch it to the tip of my own. “So I’ll be home.”

“I’m coming over,” I said, stealing a quick kiss before I released her. “I’ll see you later, baby.”

“I can’t wait,” she murmured, smacking me on the ass when I walked past her.

I laughed softly. “Why don’t we⁠—”

“I’m not leaving early,” she said, getting the jump on what I was about to suggest. “You go ahead. I’ll follow you out in a minute.”

I sighed, doubling back and hooking an arm around her waist instead of leaving. Pulling her to me, I crashed into her, kissing her hard until I felt her melting into me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, lowering her head back to give me better access.

As soon as her tongue touched mine, I moaned, beyond tempted to press her up against the wall and take her right here. With that idea in my head, I started walking us backward, absorbing the impact of the wall with my arm as I fused my front to hers.

She kissed me back eagerly, but as I started dragging my fingertips along her bare thigh, lifting the hem of her dress with my wrist when I reached it, she smacked me away. “We can’t, Niall.”

“Why not?” I asked into her mouth, feeling her shiver against me. “You want to. I know you do.”

“I’m not saying I don’t, but someone will see. Or hear.” She kissed me one last time and shot me a playful wink as she slid out from between the wall and me. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly, sighing as I watched her sashay toward the door. “You’d better go first, though. I’m going to need a minute.”

She giggled, so light and free as she winked at me before she left that even being left hanging couldn’t annoy me. “I’ll make up for it later.”

“I’m holding you to that,” I promised as she waltzed out of the room, and then I smiled.

Again.

It seemed I still couldn’t stop doing it and it was all because of her. This girl who had entered my life like a crazy hurricane, disrupting all my patterns and crashing her way through all my boundaries. Yet, I couldn’t be annoyed by any of that either.

I was having way too much fun to be irritated about the havoc she’d wreaked in my carefully constructed life. In fact, if things kept going the way they were right now, I might even raze it to the ground with her.

21

TALLULAH

With only a week left before the Hallow’s Eve Festival at the plantation, preparations were in full swing. I’d spent most of the last week getting the rest of Niall’s properties ready for Halloween, but I was happy to be spending most of my time at the plantation now that everything else was taken care of.

Mostly, I was also just happy. Thanks to a certain not-so-prickly-after-all businessman, I was smiling more than I ever had.

Niall Morrison was making me feel like a one-woman powerhouse. He honestly made me feel more self-assured and more confident than ever before. Like I was capable of absolutely anything I put my mind to.