Crossing the Line (21 page)

What he felt in that moment was difficult to describe. A whiff of lilac and cherries filled his nostrils as her warm body pressed solid against his. He circled his arms around her waist and returned her embrace, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. She was home.

They stood there for several minutes, not moving. People went around them, not seeming to pay much attention to their reunion. Eventually, Megan pulled back a little so that she could see his face. “Hi.”

Paul chuckled, and put some more space between them. “How was your flight?”

“Good.” 

Megan reached to pick up her bags, but Paul beat her to it. He hitched her backpack over his shoulder, careful not to crush the flowers. Extending his free arm, he offered them to her. “I got these for you. A kind of welcome home present.”

She took them in both her hands and inhaled. 

Paul held his breath, awaiting her reaction. Had he made the wrong choice? Should he have gotten the roses?

A smile tugged at her lips. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like them.” Before he could say any more, a noise sounded from the baggage carousel, and they went to retrieve the rest of her luggage. 

Twenty minutes later, they were in the car, and on their way home. Paul had made his decision. Buying her flowers had sealed it. He was going to ask her to go out with him on a date. One date, and then they would see how it went from there. 

There was only one problem. He didn’t know how to go about asking her. Should he do it now, or should it be something more romantic? Paul hated feeling so unsure of himself. He’d never felt this way with Melissa. Everything between them had been easy, especially in the beginning.

Of course, back then things had been simple. They were kids without any real responsibilities. Their first date had been to a school dance. He’d taken her out to dinner beforehand at a moderately priced restaurant, and then to the dance. After that, he’d driven her home. Simple. Uncomplicated. The exact opposite of his current situation.

“Something on your mind?” Megan asked when they were about halfway home.

He glanced over at her. She’d turned slightly to face him, and was holding her flowers gingerly in her lap. It was now or never. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out with me Friday night.”

Megan didn’t respond right away, and he was back to paying attention to the road so he couldn’t see her reaction to his question. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Paul swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Again, she didn’t say anything. This time he looked in her direction. She had leaned her head back against the headrest, and was staring at him intently. He’d expected her to jump at his offer, since she’d been the one to push for it in the first place. That’s why her next question surprised him. “Are you sure?”

Since they were coming up on their exit, Paul waited until they were off the highway before he replied. But instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “What? Have you changed your mind? I thought . . .”

She shook her head. “No. I haven’t changed my mind. But I’m curious as to what made you change yours.”

As scared as he was, Paul figured he needed to be honest. “I did a lot of thinking while you were gone, and well . . .” He took a deep breath, and admitted something to her he hoped he wouldn’t regret. “I missed you.”

Megan laughed.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You mean, all I had to do was go away for a week? Here I’ve been trying to get your attention for months, and leaving is what does it?”

“Oh, trust me, you got my attention just fine.”

She smirked. “Good to know.”

Paul pulled into his driveway and turned off the car. “So?”

“So what?”

He tried not to let her see how anxious he was. “You never answered my question. Will you go out on a date with me Friday night?”

“Oh. That.”

Paul tightened his hold on his keys, and he could feel the metal biting into his hand. “Yes. That.”

Instead of answering him, Megan opened her door, and stepped out of the car. He followed, completely perplexed. 

They both came around to the back of the vehicle to get her luggage, but when he reached for the handle, she stopped him. “Kiss me.”

“What?” It had been a while since he’d asked a woman out on a date, but if memory served, the kiss came
after
the date.

“I want you to kiss me.” 

This time he detected a note of amusement in her tone. He wasn’t sure if he should be annoyed or not, since she appeared to be having fun at his expense. “Isn’t that supposed to come after the date?”

She shrugged. “Let’s just say . . . this is my way of finding out if you’re serious or not.”

Paul stared at her for a moment, and then decided why not? It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to kiss her. In fact, it had been at the top of his list since the moment he’d laid eyes on her at the airport. He’d only been holding back because . . . well, he didn’t know why exactly. 

Stepping forward, Paul closed the distance between them, and cupped the back of her neck with his right hand. She tilted her head up and slightly to the left, leaning into his touch. Placing his left hand at her waist, he brought her closer until he could feel the heat radiating from her body. It had been over a month since he’d felt her soft and warm beneath his fingers. 

Megan closed her eyes as he lowered his mouth to hers. For once, he didn’t question it—didn’t think about all the reasons why not. This time, he allowed the desire he’d been keeping a tight lid on to come to the surface.

When Megan issued her challenge, she hadn’t known how Paul would react. He’d caught her off guard when he asked her out. The entire time she’d been in Nashville, she’d racked her brain as to what else she could do to try and break through the wall he’d built up around him. There was no way she could have known that her absence would be enough to push him out of his comfort zone.

As Paul’s lips continued to move against hers, Megan gave in to the urge to touch him. Holding tight to the flowers with one hand, she used the other to grip the back of his head, pulling him closer. He seemed to like that. His fingers flexed on her hip, and he shifted them slightly. She moaned as he pressed her up against the car. With every second that passed, it was becoming more difficult to remember they were in public.

Paul ran his palm down her hip to cup her ass. The movement lifted her an inch or so higher, which brought her more in line with the hard length of him pressing aggressively against his jeans. She began rubbing herself against him, seeking friction.

He groaned, and ripped his mouth away from hers.

Megan didn’t want their kiss to end. She tugged at his hair, trying to get him to pick up where he’d left off.

“We can’t . . . do this here.” His words were broken, spoken in between short, shallow breaths.

A car passed by as they stood clinging to one another, and Megan knew he was right. They were standing in his driveway in the middle of the day. Somehow she didn’t think the neighbors would like it much if they began ripping each other’s clothes off on the front lawn.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, willing herself to calm down.

Even though Paul had stopped the kiss, he seemed to be in no hurry to let her go. She smiled, and placed a soft kiss at the base of his neck.

He chuckled. “What was that for?”

Instead of answering that question, she answered another. “Yes.”

Unfortunately, this caused Paul to pull back so that he could see her face. “Yes, what?”

Megan smiled, and ran her fingers freely through his hair. “Yes, I’ll go out on a date with you.”

Paul threw his head back and laughed. The motion separated them further, and Megan let her fingers fall. 

To her surprise, when he realized they were no longer connected, he grasped the back of her head with both hands, and gave her a swift, hard kiss. When he separated their lips, he didn’t release her. “I missed you. I really did.”

Reaching up, she ran her fingers along his jaw. “I’m glad to be home.”

He kissed her again, and then took a step back. They unloaded her suitcases, and brought them upstairs to her room. There was a moment of awkwardness. Things were changing between them, and it seemed as if neither knew exactly what that meant. 

After a few minutes of strained silence, Paul excused himself from Megan’s room. She let herself fall backward onto the bed, and grinned so wide her cheeks hurt. Paul had kissed her. Willingly. Knowingly. They were going out on a date. A real, honest-to-goodness date. And he’d gotten her flowers. No guy had ever bought her flowers before. 

Megan looked over to her dresser where she’d placed the bouquet. The flowers were beautiful. They reminded her of spring, of new beginnings, which was completely appropriate given the circumstances. 

As she lay there, she began to wonder where he’d take her on their date. Not that the where really mattered. Paul was finally admitting that he felt something for her—that she wasn’t only his daughter’s nanny. Doubt crept up in the back of her mind, wiping the smile from her face.
Maybe he’s just horny.

No. She didn’t believe that. If sex was all Paul wanted from her, he could have had that months ago. He’d always been the one to stop their physical encounters, not her. And he’d said he missed her. Not kissing her or making out with her. Her. 

Pushing herself up off the bed, Megan flipped her suitcase open and unpacked her things. It took a while. She sorted through her clothes, throwing the dirty ones in the hamper. Rebecca had offered to let her use their washer and dryer, but Megan had brought plenty of clothes with her for the week, so she’d opted to bring her laundry home instead. 

Once everything was put away, Megan headed downstairs to find some food. Rebecca and Gage had taken her out for a late breakfast before dropping her off at the airport. At the time, she’d been stuffed. That was nearly five hours ago.

When she came down the stairs, Paul was riffling through the cabinets. He must have heard her enter because he turned abruptly to face her, almost as if he were a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I didn’t see you there.”

She walked over to the refrigerator and checked to see if she could find any leftovers. It was practically empty. Even when she’d first arrived, there had been a fair amount of food in the refrigerator. Besides the basics—milk, cheese, condiments—there were only two bottles of beer and a container that looked as if it held some sort of cake. “Where is everything?”

“Oh. I’ve mostly been eating takeout.” He shrugged. “I’ve been working long hours, and since it was only me . . .”

That made sense. Needing something more than what was to be had in the refrigerator, Megan made a beeline for the pantry. She found a box of pasta and some sauce. It might not be all that creative, but spaghetti was easy to make and filling. 

As she moved about the kitchen, Paul seemed out of his element. He stood leaning against the counter for a while, and then moved to sit in one of the chairs. She glanced over her shoulder to find him tapping his fingers against the table and staring out the window into the backyard. 

“Everything okay?”

He snapped his head around to look at her. “Yeah. Yes. Everything’s fine.”

She finished making her pasta, and loaded a healthy portion onto her plate. “Did you want some?”

“No. I’m good.”

She brought her plate over to the table and sat down. Paul looked uncomfortable.

After swallowing a few bites, Megan couldn’t take it anymore. “Paul, what’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and eyed her cautiously. “I guess I’m feeling a little lost.”

“Lost? Why?” Megan asked, taking another bite of her food.

Paul sighed. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to work. Us.”

“How do you want it to work?”

Megan could tell he was thinking about his answer, so she waited. The minutes ticked by as she finished her spaghetti and took her plate to the sink. When he still hadn’t answered by the time she was done, she strolled over to him. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Megan straddled his lap, sat down, and rested her arms over his shoulders. 

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Cutting to the chase.” She brushed her lips back and forth across his.

Paul’s breathing began to pick up. He closed his eyes, and took control of the kiss. Less than a minute later, he was running his hands up and down her back underneath her shirt, and his tongue was caressing hers. It wasn’t as desperate as some of their make-out sessions, but that didn’t make it any less hot. 

This time it was Megan who pulled back. “That’s how it works. This. Us.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “I should probably tell you something.”

She scraped her nails along his scalp, and she felt him shiver. “What’s that?”

“I’ve never—”

“Don’t even try to tell me you’ve never had sex before. You have a daughter, remember? That one won’t work with me.”

Paul chuckled and pinched her.

“Ouch.”

“Serves you right. That wasn’t what I was going to say.”