Page 23 of Hooked on Love

“I know.”

“I’m older than you.”

“I know.”

“I’m sleeping on your couch.”

The corner of her mouth twitches. “I know.”

“I’m not—” My voice drops to the pit of my stomach. “I can’t offer you much, sweetheart.”

She reaches out and puts her hand on my jaw, warm and sure, guiding my face toward hers. Her eyes are clear as she says, “You offer me more than you realize.”

I look at her for a long moment, my chest wound tight at her words, their implication. And I can see it in her eyes. How did I not see it before?

Her gaze is as blue and deep as the ocean I crave—I love.

And I’m not a man who believes in coincidences.

I close the distance between us and kiss her, holding nothing back.

If this is all I can offer her…

If love is all she’s after.

Then I’ll love her like no one has ever loved her before.

More Than Enough

Jake

I kiss her until she stops thinking.

I can feel the moment it happens. The tension in her shoulders releasing, her hands uncurling from my shirt, her body going soft and pliant against mine. She moans softly into my mouth, somewhere between a sigh and a surrender, and something in my chest settles.

No stopping this time.

I pull back just enough to look at her. Her lips are kiss-swollen, her eyes dark and heavy, her hair already coming loose around her face. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve spent far too long trying not to notice.

I’m done trying.

“Hold on,” I murmur.

Her brow furrows. “Wha—”

I bend and hook an arm under her knees, the other around her back, and lift her clean off the couch. She gasps, arms flying around my neck. “Jake!”

“I’ve got you.”

She laughs—surprised and breathless—and the sound has my chest expanding as I carry her down the hall. The bedroom door is already open. I cross the threshold, and when I reach the bed, I give her a light toss. She falls onto the mattress with a soft bounce.

She gasps again, then dissolves into giggles, her dark hair fanning out across the floral bedding. Her gaze finds mine and she’s grinning up at me, cheeks flushed, chest rising and falling fast, and I just…stop. I stare at her for a moment.

“What?” she breathes, still smiling.

“Nothing,” I say, my voice rough with the need to have her. “Just looking.”

Her smile softens into something that does me in completely.