On A Night Like This (Callaways #1)

this time—was she?
    "You're thinking really hard, Sara," he drawled, his hands coming to rest on her waist.
    She caught her breath at his touch, her mind suddenly spinning. All sense of reason and logic was being crowded out by the sheer desire.
    "Sara?" he said.
    "Just kiss me already."
    She'd barely gotten the words out when his mouth covered hers. His lips were warm, firm, and while the kiss started out soft and tender, it quickly changed to hard and passionate. He pulled her up against his chest, and she went into his embrace willingly. She opened her mouth under his, taking his tongue inside, loving his taste, his touch, the softening of her body against his hard angles.
    The kiss was better than her fantasies, better than her memories, and she didn't want it to end, didn’t want to have to talk about it, explain it, or rationalize it. She just wanted to feel his heat, to be a part of him the way he'd always been a part of her.
    Somewhere in her brain, she knew she needed to be the one to pull away, to say no, to end the kiss. She couldn't let Aiden be the one—not again.
    But it was so difficult to find the right moment to end it.
    Then voices penetrated the thick fog of passion. Loud voices.
    She pulled away, as two teenage couples came down the path. They had their arms around each other and were passing a bottle of alcohol back and forth between them. They barely glanced at them as they passed.
    Sara let out a breath. She should have been grateful for the interruption, but she wasn't.
    "Sara," Aiden began.
    She immediately shook her head. "Don't say anything, please."
    "I didn't mean—"
    "Aiden, stop. Let it be. It was just a kiss. Don't make it into anything else. We should go back to the car."
    "Are you sure you don't want to talk—"
    "I don't. I really, really don't." She moved out of his embrace and started walking down the path.
    Thankfully, Aiden followed. The drive home was made in silence. But when Aiden parked in front of her dad's house and turned off the engine, he stopped her from getting out of the car. "Wait, Sara."
    She waited, but now that he had her attention, he didn't seem to know what to say.
    "It's not a big deal," she said, breaking the silence. "We got caught up in the moment. And now the moment is over. It was just a kiss," she repeated, silently willing that to be true. "I don't have a crush on you anymore, if that's what you're worried about."
    "I don't want to hurt you."
    She stared back at him. "I don't intend to let you." And with that, she got out of the car and walked into her father's house, resisting the urge to look back.

Chapter Thirteen

    After a sleepless night, Sara got up Sunday morning just after seven, threw on sweats, grabbed her keys and phone and went for a run. About a half mile into her jog, she remembered that she really didn't like to run, but she needed to find a way to burn off the restless energy that had been building since she'd kissed Aiden. She should have followed Emma's advice and stayed away from him. Instead, she'd gotten caught up in his sexy charm and let her inner teenager take over.
    Today, she would get back to business. She needed to make some decisions. It wasn't like her to be so indecisive but things had changed a lot since she'd first made her weekend getaway plans. She still had a flight booked for six o'clock in the evening. She could get on it, go back to New York, and the life she'd built the last seven years. Or, she could stay in San Francisco and…
    What?
    Help her father when he clearly didn’t want her assistance?
    Get further involved with Aiden, who would no doubt disappear as soon as he came out of the fog of grief he was living in?
    The only reason he'd turned to her was because he didn't want to get his family involved in his problems. He had not suddenly discovered that she was irresistible.
    Although, it was fun to imagine that Aiden now thought she was beautiful, sexy and desirable. Wasn't that just the ultimate revenge? The nerdy girl turns into a swan and the sexy bad boy finally sees her for who she really is?
    Unfortunately, her revenge would have worked better if she hadn't kissed him again, if she'd been as untouchable and unattainable as he'd once been for her. She really needed to stay away from him.
    Too bad, he lived just next door.
    Right now, he was probably in bed, maybe wearing nothing…
    She'd seen him with his shirt off, and his muscled arms and rippling abs were a thing of beauty, not to mention