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"No."
"We have only this moment, and the future ones."
She nodded silently, caught in the intensity of his gaze.
"She has me now. As a dad, and as a protector." He paused. "And you have me, too."
"I don't want—"
"I know." And he kissed her anyway.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When Keegan felt Sofia melt into him, something inside him seemed to come alive.
He framed her face with his hands and angled his head, deepening the kiss, coaxing her to life. He was so careful, grimly aware now of her past and her valid fear of men and trusting herself with a guy.
He wanted to give her space from him…but at the same time, he wanted to give her the gift of realizing she could trust him.
She leaned into him, gripping the front of his jacket as she kissed him back. The electric spark was still there, visceral and alive, ensnaring him in the magic of her touch and her lips.
Desire and need began to pulse through him, and he deepened the kiss, surrendering to the power of her soul calling to him. He kept a tight rein on himself, though, unwilling to let himself lose control, refusing to put his needs before his awareness of her response.
But she didn't pull back. In fact, she kissed him more deeply, giving him all she was, releasing the walls she'd built between them.
With a low groan, Keegan slid his hands to her hips, drawing her against him. She came willingly, and suddenly, the kiss took on a power of its own, catapulting him back into those same sensations of when he was eighteen and falling hard and fast for the free-spirited whirlwind that had blown into his life.
He was falling again. Hard. Fast. He knew it didn't make sense. They had so much to unpack…but at the same time, their conversation had already loosened the stranglehold on their connection.
He understood her.
He admired her.
He was completely sucked into her spell.
And he knew that with her background, he might never convince her to give him a chance and trust him. She might walk away and disappear again. Swearing, he realized he needed to pause what happening between them. He didn't want to push too hard and make her want to run. He had to give her space.
"I want to go back to your room," she whispered against his mouth. "Can we go back there?"
He pulled back, shocked by her words. "What?"
Her cheeks turned red. "Never mind. Forget it. I can't believe I just said that." She took a breath. "Okay, so we're good, then? Over the past and all that? I forgot to tell you that I have a Christmas party at my store on Monday, so I really can't stay for the Hart party tomorrow. We'll have to grab my car and head back. Cool? Okay, bye." Then she turned and started running back to the hotel.
What.
The.
Heck.
"Sofia!" He broke into a jog, but she didn't look back or slow down.
In fact, she was already in the door by the time he caught up to her. He reached for her wrist, but she jerked it out of his grasp and kept running. "Go away, Keegan. Forget it. Just go."
He swore under his breath, sprinted past her, then stopped in front of her, blocking the hallway. He held up his hands in surrender when she stopped. "Sascha. I just want to talk."
"No." She backed up. "Look, I literally was just willing to have sex with you. The last time I did that, I wound up with a baby, who I love, yes, but it was also a complete shitshow of my life. I'm attracted to you. So what? I'm a freaking grown woman, and I'm not going to go jump into bed with you because I can't help myself. I don't even do that. Just with you, and you are—" She cut herself off.
"I'm what?" He was glad he had her talking, but he wasn't feeling all that optimistic about how she was feeling about him.
