I realize Matt is watching me, as if he knows the site by memory—but not the sight of me. My cheeks warm as I start walking down the trail by his side.
He glances at our feet, stops walking, and drops to his haunches to lace up my running shoes.
I’m breathless as he stands to his full intimidating height and jerks his head toward the white dome across the water. “See that?”
I look around, thinking he spotted some reporters. Call it paranoia.
“I don’t see.” I’m trying to figure out if anyone is recognizing him—a six-feet-plus, gorgeous-looking man, who’s not looking? I quickly open my notepad and pretend to scribble something.
He laughs and turns my head to shift me around to face the water. The touch sends a frisson down my spine and I can’t see straight. “Seriously? You think that little notebook makes a difference? People will see what they want to see. This is no different than our morning runs. Now look.”
“At what?”
He laughs softly. “Stop talking and look.”
Matt turns my face an inch higher over the water, and I see. How the monuments reflect in the water, the water doubling the effect of their beauty.
I stare at the white classical building across the water. “Oh.”
And he’s looking at me, at his finger on my chin.
“Take me,” I say, then clear my throat when I see the male laughter in his eyes as I point at the Jefferson Memorial. “I mean, take me there. I’ve never been inside.”
“That’s the plan.” He grins, obviously still just a guy with a guy’s mind underneath the famous name.
We start forward, my body acutely aware of his moving beside mine.
We pass a Japanese stone pagoda and other memorials, until we reach the Jefferson Memorial.
We take the steps, walk past the tall white columns, and walk into the cavernous building until we’re standing under a huge domed ceiling. Inscriptions cover the marble walls. Front and center, standing atop a large block of marble, is a massive nineteen-foot-tall monument to Jefferson, third president of the United States, one of our founding fathers.
We take a bench near one of the panels, one that quotes the Declaration of Independence.
I glance around the place. It’s one of those memorials that’s a little more difficult to access because there’s no parking space outside. It feels as if it stands on its own island . . . away from it all, but so close to the heart of the city at the same time.
“Do you always find far-off places to get away and think?” I ask Matt.
“I usually come alone.”
The dark flecks in his eyes look a little blacker as he takes me under the warm yellow lights above us. There’s a bright flame there, in his eyes.
“Except I find myself craving some alone time with you.” His lips tilt in mischief.
His smile soon fades and shadows enter his eyes.
“It would be easier had I not run. During my father’s terms at the White House, I used to dream about freedom. A thousand times, my father said I would be president. He told his friends, his friends’ friends, and he often told me. I’d laugh and shake it off.”
“He even told me,” I say good-naturedly, and the warmth of his smile sends shivers through me.
He makes no effort to hide the fact that he’s looking at me tenderly. “He did, didn’t he?”
His eyes.
They just eat me up.
“I lost my father the day he decided that being president would be his legacy.” His eyes are leveled on mine beneath his drawn eyebrows. “He tried juggling it all, but he couldn’t do it. We kept thinking when it was over, he’d be ours again. He kept promising when it was over, he’d have time for us again.”
I swallow a lump of emotion in my throat. I know what comes next.
“Never happened.” The cold glint in his eyes sends a chill through me.
“It’s been thousands of days since. Too many years spent living in the past. Too many years wondering why. Too many nights wanting things to be right in our country.”
We’re silent.
There’s a tension emanating from him, pulsing around me, tempting me to draw my arms around him and simply crush him against me if that were even possible.
Matt glances at the statue and drags a hand across his jaw.
“Charlotte, I have enormous respect for you and your family. In so many ways, I feel responsible for you.”
“Matt, you’re not, you’re not responsible for me—”
“I’m not supposed to want you,” he says, cutting me off.
“What?” My eyes widen in disbelief.
What can I say when he looks at me in that way?
He’s looking at me as if he’s frustrated that he wants me.
Silence settles between us.
“I think of you. I think of you too often, if you ask me,” he says.
I nervously tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and stare at my lap. “I think of you too.”
My comment seems to come as no surprise. “So what are we going to do about it?” he asks softly.
“Nothing,” I say.
He laughs, and drags a hand over his face and tsks, shaking his head. “Nothing’s just not in my vocabulary. Is it risky? Yes. Is it selfish on my part? Maybe. But I’m not just going to do nothing.”
I swallow. “Matt.” I glance around nervously, trying to steer away from the path this conversation has taken. “Have you realized people could talk if anyone recognized us? Why did you bring me here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I knew you’d love it here.”
I laugh. “I really do, you wicked man.” I try to push at his chest teasingly, but he catches my wrist and pulls me closer, his eyes darker.
“I’m so wicked you have no idea.”
He’s looking at my mouth not as if he wants to kiss it.
Matt is staring at my mouth as if he means to devour it.
“You know you can’t kiss me,” I croak even as we now look at each other’s lips.
He brushes his thumb over my lips. “I can kiss you. I definitely want to kiss you. I think we both know I mean to kiss you. Long and hard. I want my tongue rolling around yours, Charlotte, and I want your delicate little moans, too.”
God help me. I’m pretty sure nothing could stop this man from getting anything he wants—nothing. Except maybe me.