Page 68 of Above All Else

“Everyone seems to disappear when I’m around you.”

My heart fluttered, my pulse cantering into a dangerous rhythm. He’d found his way in, burrowed his soul through my walls and wove around mine. The air in my lungs vanished as I stared into his dark brown eyes. “I don’t want to regret this.”

“Then don’t. But if you do, I’ll help you every step of the way.”

I gulped—the conversation like a handful of keys, each searching for the door to my heart...and he’d found it.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Carter nodded, and we slid off of our chairs, his hand slipping down to the small of my back as we walked out of the sandwich shop—the rain abating. He walked me around the side of his car, opened the door, and helped me inside.

I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all.

Rounding the front, he sank into his seat and started the car. “The hotel is just over that way.” He pointed to the left. “So we won’t have far to go if we want to come back tomorrow before we leave.”

I patted my belly. “I can’t even think about food right now.”

“There’s only one thing I’d be gluttonous over.”

My lips curled up as I pictured an array of desserts as he backed out of our parking space and turned onto the street. “Would that be cheesecake?Uhhh.“ My head hit the back of my seat. “I could gorge myself on cheese—“

“You, June.”

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, just like that time at the Cheesecake Factory in Denver, when I devoured an entire Reese’s cheesecake slice by myself.

“I can’t get enough of you.” He stopped at the red light and leaned over the console, gripping the back of my neck, pulling me in close. “I think my heart would explode if I tried.”

“How many women’s hearts have you broken, Carter Morgan?”

He shook his head, his breath on my lips. “Only one. And I plan on gluing it back together.” His mouth came down on mine, our tongues dipping and sliding against one another. Flutters hit my belly as I leaned into him, my hand fisting his hair, bringing him in tighter.

I rose from my seat, my knees crashing into the console as I spilled into his lap, my ass in the air.

Hooonnnnkk.

We tore apart, our breaths ragged, the seat belt around my waist and knees.

“Hold that thought, dollface.”

Chapter 17

June

My back slammed into the hotel door, his hand fighting with the keycard as our lips locked, my fingers gripping his shirt, pulling it up his torso as he missed the slot twice.

“Hurry.” I sunk my teeth into his bottom lip, pulling until he growled, my nails digging into his ribcage. “I need you.”

“I’m trying.” He peeled away, my teeth slipping from his lip as he glanced at the lock, then slid the keycard with a double beep.

“Finally.”

The door flung open, and we fell inside withlaughter. He dropped the clothes bags by the door and slid the deadbolt into place.

“You feel so good in my hands.”

We shuffled backward, my elbow slamming into the wall, and I grunted. “We need to be careful.”

“I’ll pay for it all. I just need to be inside you.” His mouth came back on mine, our tongues exploring one another.