“Tell me no if you don’t want me to kiss you again.”

“I kissed you the last time.”

“This one will be all on me, unless you say no.”

“I’m not saying no, but—”

He didn’t wait to hear the second half of her sentence. Before she could change her mind—or he could change his—he pulled her closer and relied upon instinct to find her lips in the dark. Until he was one hundred percent certain she was on board with this kiss, he only rubbed his lips against hers.

Then her lips parted and her hand curled around his neck, which was all the encouragement he needed. Paul ran his tongue over her bottom lip, making her gasp. For a second, he wondered if he’d been too forward, but then her tongue touched his, and he forgot about all the reasons why this was a bad idea and lost himself in her. Other than her, he hadn’t kissed anyone in longer than he could remember, and he’d never kissed anyone with quite so much pent-up need.

Hope’s need seemed to match his, and she met every thrust of his tongue with her own, driving him slowly crazy. They got so caught up in the kiss that they nearly fell off the back steps, laughing at the near miss. When they broke the kiss, the sound of heavy breathing filled the night air.

Paul found her hand in the darkness. “Come inside for a little while.”

“What about Jenny and Alex?”

“When they said they had stuff to do at the house, they meant each other.”

Hope sputtered with laughter. “How do you know that?”

“Because it’s gotten a lot ‘quieter’ around here since the carpet went in over there.”

“That’s too funny.”

“They’re not coming back here tonight. The coast is clear…”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“No,” he said, laughing, “I’m not sure of that at all, but I’m sure that it feels great to kiss you, and I don’t want to stop. Not yet.”

“I’m afraid…”

“Of what? Not me…”

“No, not you, but if this, whatever this is between us… If it goes bad, my job…”

“I promise you that no matter what happens or doesn’t happen between us, it will never, ever impact your job. You have my word on that.”

“What is happening between us?”

“I don’t know, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Are you?”

“Yeah,” she said softly.

He stood and gave her hand a gentle tug. “Come inside.”

She stood and let him lead her indoors, where he faced a decision—the sofa or his room? Because he couldn’t be entirely sure that Jenny and Alex were gone for the night, he took a left down the hallway to his room, where the rising moon provided a faint hint of light through the open windows.