Page 52 of If I Stopped Haunting You

“Kind of?”

She glared. “Do you have any ideas, Storm? Because I don’t recall you mentioning any sort of solution.”

Neil surveyed the stone floors, searching for some hidden trapdoor. This castle had so many hiding places, so many strange little nooks, but it was clear this turret was empty, and there was no sense in grasping for an alternative.

“We could…” He trailed off as his eyes met hers.

They could, what? Whatever he was about to say died on hislips. Hands planted on either side of her, Neil surrounded Skinner. The scent of her shampoo found him, flooding his senses as his eyes caught on the shine of her lips before sliding away.

The locked door, the night before, the last four months—the words for everything left him as he stared down at her. He thought of their moment at the ruins, the way his hand had fit into the notch at her waist so perfectly.

This scene was almost identical to the one in the study, but Neil knew now. He knew that last night, something had changed between them, and he couldn’t hide it anymore.

He took her in, the slope of her shoulders, the way her sweater simply wouldn’t stay up, the spattering of freckles over her pale skin.

The way her lips parted as she met his heated gaze.

He could have been thinking about any number of things, like whatever lay beyond the door, but the only thing on Neil Storm’s mind was kissing Penelope Skinner.

Chapter 16

PEN

She could smell him from here, that sweet, rich scent of coffee, the slightest of musk lingering on his clothes. She’d tried desperately to forget that scent, but it was impossible. Clearing her throat, Pen turned to the door, her hands tightening around the doorknob. They needed to get out of here.

“Maybe if we work together,” she offered, not daring to look at him.

What washappening? Pen was about to have a full-on existential meltdown.

You know what’s happening.

And damn it, shewantedit to happen. She’d shoved him down to the snow andstraddledhim. She’d nearly let him kiss her in the study. There was something between them, now that the air had been cleared and their pasts could stay their pasts, but the part of her that kind of wanted a future, too, desperately wantedthis.

He took a step closer, the heat of him along her back. Pen’s nerves buzzed with his nearness. She tried to focus on the fear of being trapped, on the thing that had shut them in, on the anger she’d felt for him just last night, but he reached around her, a finger skimming the back of her hand before wrapping around hers.

Without even realizing it, she was leaning back, melting into him, breath coming faster. What in the actualfuckwas happening?Pen didn’t have words to describe this tightness in her chest, but she knew what that slickness between her legs was, the ache building as he pressed closer.

And she could not ignore that.

Twenty-four hours ago, she would have never imagined talking to this man, let alone having an honest conversation, but in the time since they’d met up in Edinburgh, she and Storm had laid bare all the nastiness between them. After reading his manuscript, she’d finally understood where he was coming from, why he’d made every decision.

Though it didn’t fix everything he’d done, Pen was willing to forgive him for his past mistakes if he was willing to forgive her for hers.

Butthishad not been on the agenda.

Not this morning, at least.

“What are you doing, Storm?”

She knew he knew very well that she was aware of what he was doing, butfuck,Pen was going to self-combust. She was hot all over, and everywhere he touched, everywhere they aligned was on fire.

He bent close until his nose skimmed her jaw, the hard angles of him pressing against her side. His breath blew across her skin, and she wanted to turn in to his warmth, capture his mouth with hers.

“I thought about kissing you at the ruins,” he whispered.

“You did?” Her voice was small, too small, and Pen wished she could swallow the words.

Her hold on the door loosened, and she pressed back into him fully, relishing the feel of him against her, the scent that flooded her senses. When she’d woken this morning with her muscles clamped tight and the place between her thighs slick with want, she’d been thinking of him, and he certainly was having the same effect on her here.