We sat in silence for several seconds before he said, “I want to kiss you.”

The strain in his voice and the hazy look in his eyes told me he meant it.

I wanted that, too. But I knew the moment my lips touched his, that would mark the beginning of an inevitable heartbreak.

“I have to go,” I whispered.

Still, I didn’t move. I felt an invisible pull between us, or maybe it was Gavin’s hand moving me toward him.

The next thing I knew, he had taken my mouth with his, groaning down my throat the moment our lips touched. He sighed as if a long hunger had been satisfied. There was no easing into it. The feel of his hot and greedy mouth, his tongue circling mine, was incredible. So rather than retreat, I did what felt natural. I opened wider to let him in, no longer caring about the repercussions.

I wrapped my hands around his face, and my fingers traced his beautiful bone structure. Moving my mouth lower, I bit gently at his cleft chin, letting my tongue glide along it. I loved that little indentation.

My chin worship lasted only a few seconds before he began to devour my mouth again, this time faster and even more intensely. Our bodies pressed together.

An indeterminate amount of time passed as I allowed myself to be completely lost in him. His smell, his taste had overpowered any sense of right or wrong. Kissing him was addicting, and anyway, the one time I attempted to retreat, he pulled me into him harder.

And I loved it. I loved how assertive he was, how he controlled every part of this, how he kissed me like he was making love to my mouth.

I was so wet, and my arousal just kept escalating. Now his mouth was on my neck, his hot breath skating over my skin, his fingers digging into my side. My nipples were so hard, wanting desperately to be sucked. But he stopped short of that, moving his mouth back up to mine. I wouldn’t have stopped him from going lower, but a part of me was relieved. I wasn’t sure I would’ve stopped him from doing anything he wanted.

That realization gave me just enough strength to really pull back this time.

Panting, I barely got the words out. “I have to go.”

Ignoring me, he pulled me in for another kiss, and the frenzy started all over again.

I melted back into him, but spoke over his lips, “I really do have to go.”

He nodded, nipping at my neck, his hands cradling my face. “I can’t stop.” He kissed me again. “I’m addicted.”

After another moment, he finally ripped himself away from me and leaned his head back on the seat.

Covering his lips, he said, “You’d better run before I kiss you again.”

“Okay.” I started to let myself out, my breaths still heavy. “Goodnight.”

When I was halfway to my door, he called my name.

I turned to face him. “Yeah?”

“I hope that cleared up the fact that this was, in fact, a date. It was always a date. We’re dating.” He smiled mischievously.

I pursed my lips to stop myself from laughing and stumbled away. I wasn’t even drunk, yet I felt buzzed—high.

He waited until I’d safely entered the house before driving off.

Once inside, I jumped at the sight of my mother standing with her arms crossed. Shit. This was not good.

She looked worried. “What are you doing, Raven?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you doing with Gavin?”

“You saw his car…”

“Of course I saw his car! No one has a car like that in this neighborhood. You were parked out there for over a half hour.”

“Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad. I’m just…worried.”

“About Ruth?”

“Yes. Of course. If she finds out, not only will your job be on the line, but mine, too.”

How could I be so dumb? For a moment there, I’d forgotten it wasn’t only my head on the line. That was stupid of me.

“You don’t think Gunther would let her fire you after all these years, do you?”

“Make no mistake, that woman wears the pants. Even though he has a good heart, he only has so much control. She’d torture him until she got her way if she really wanted to get rid of me.”

The guilt began to set in.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t mean to be jeopardizing your job.”

She placed her head in her hands. “I hate putting you in this position. You should be able to date whomever you want. I know that.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “How did this come about anyway—you and him?”

“Well, we’ve gone to get coffee a couple of times. He’s always been very friendly with me. Then he asked me to go to this improv club with him tonight. I know I told you I was going out with Marni. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to upset you. Anyway, Gavin and I…we actually performed together. It was open mic night. We had such a great time.” I paused. “Mom, I really like him.”