Within a few steps, she was in my arms and I first kissed her on top of her head. “I couldn’t wait until tonight to see you.”

“Well, now, that just makes my day,” she mumbled with her face in my chest before she pulled back to look at me, her smile just as radiant.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look smokin’ hot wearing glasses?”

She was utterly f**king adorable when she blushed over my compliment and reached up to take them off. “Geez…I look like a dork with them. I only wear them when I’m doing a lot of computer work.”

“You look beautiful…with or without them,” I told her as I took the glasses from her hand and set them on her desk. Once my hands were free, I brought them up to place them on her face, relishing the silky softness of her skin. It had struck me clearly that I had never touched a woman like that before Sutton. It felt bold and intimate all at the same time, and I had never felt so proprietary toward something as I felt right then.

I couldn’t f**king help myself—I bent down and claimed her mouth. We were in the broad light of day, in her place of work, where anyone could walk in at any time.

I couldn’t have cared less.

I plunged my tongue past her lips, seeking her wet warmth, and continued to probe against her. She answered me with equal passion, her fingertips sinking down into the front edge of my pants to pull our bodies closer. A tiny moan escaped her mouth and I sucked it down, kissing her harder.

The more I kissed her, the more I felt starved for her, almost as if my life depended upon that contact, and while it was the most amazing and unique feeling, a little kernel of fear took root.

I became fearful that Sutton was becoming necessary to me, and that could be translated into a weakness. I had been conditioned my entire existence to cut everything out of my life that could divert my attention…that could claim any part of my being.

And it’s not just my being that was at risk. Sutton could threaten to claim my very soul—this I knew to be true, and yet I still continued to kiss her, unwilling to let go of the perfectness that was lying against my tongue.

When my dick reached epic hardness and I started considering a way to hike up her skirt and f**k her on her desk, Sutton had the sense to pull back, and our kiss was broken with a painful sigh.

Opening my eyes, I gazed down at my girl. As her own eyes cleared up a bit, she gave me a tremulous smile and said, “God, I missed you.”

Those four words tipped me over the edge and I pretty much f**king kissed my soul goodbye. I know I’m probably still destined to screw things up with Sutton but I’ve decided, until then, my soul is her bitch. Until I screwed it up I was going to be selfish and push forward to possess every bit of her that I could.

Stepping back so her fingertips were dislodged from my pants, I reached down and adjusted myself, earning a sexy giggle. Turning around, I grabbed the paper bag from the chair and handed it to her. “I brought you something.”

“From your trip out west?” she asked with excitement as she reached for the bag.

“Sadly, no. From the grocery store down the street.”

She grinned at me and reached inside the bag, “Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

Her brows angled inward as her fingers made contact with her gift within the depths of the brown paper. When she pulled it out, her face lit up with joy and she held up for me to see the bag of Hershey’s Kisses with Almonds.

“How in the world did you know these were my favorite?”

“I have my connections,” I assured her with a smirk.

“Minnie,” she said emphatically. “That woman ratted me out.”

“She was just trying to give me a leg up,” I said in Minnie’s defense. “I’m trying to get in good with you.”

Stepping back toward me, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me, so I bent down to oblige her. It was a sweet laying of lips upon mine, brief and soft, and then she stepped back. “You’re already in good with me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…you give me some amazing orgasms.”

I sucked in my breath so fast with an unexpected laugh that I choked, which in turn caused me to have a coughing fit. Sutton winked at me with a grin, and then handed me the bag of chocolate.

I took it from her with my eyebrows raised.

“You have to keep this,” she told me. “I only allow myself two a day. If I keep it, I’ll eat the entire thing the minute you leave.”

“Fine,” I told her with a nod as I put the chocolates in the brown paper bag. “You can have two tonight after dinner.”

“My hero, my jailer,” she lamented. “And before I forget,” she said as she rounded her desk again. “I finalized all of the material for the outreach program. I’m going to set up a talk with one of the local high schools and want to know if you can go with me. Sort of like a practice run.”

“Absolutely,” I told her as her phone started to ring on her desk. “Let’s work it around my schedule and pick a time when I’ll be here a few days.”

Holding up her index finger for me to wait, she reached for the receiver with a smile and said, “What’s up, Minnie?”

I watched as the light in her eyes dimmed just a bit and she gave a sigh. “Okay. Go ahead and send him back.”

Placing the phone on the hook, she turned to me. “My dad is here to see me.”

“Jim?” I asked with uncertainty, because I knew based on the way she talked about her stepdad that he practically walked on water and wouldn’t cause that look on her face.