Chapter 25
E verything that had been building between them, the kiss set on fire. Charlotte wanted to drag Gregory to a tucked-away alley she knew by the entrance and kiss him senseless, but her more practical self, which realized they were kissing in a sea of families, prevailed.
She broke the kiss and brought her eyes up to Gregory’s. “So were there any other rides you wanted to go on?”
Gregory made a strangled sound. “Uh, I can think of a ride, if you also want to go on it.”
“Gregory Binns! Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Hey, you said it first.”
“I did no—Oh, I did but I didn’t mean it that way. I was legitimately making sure you didn’t want to do more things in the park.”
Gregory reached for her hand and brought it the back of it to his lips. “Charlotte. No. I do not want to see more of the park. Do you?”
“Nope, I’ve been here. A lot. Let’s get out of here.”
He wound his fingers through hers. “You’re the expert. Lead the way?”
“I’ve got this. Hold on tight; this crowd is large and full of over-sugared and overtired children.”
She cut through the crowd with determination and the presence of a linebacker, aware of Gregory’s closeness behind her. Thank goodness the hotel had messed up their reservation and stuck them in a single room with a king-sized bed. She thought both of them wanted the same thing tonight. Right? No, Charlotte , she told herself, you were there for that kiss . Everything about his body said he was very into it. They got to the loading area for the monorail that would take them to their hotel and Gregory leaned into her back and Charlotte realized, yes, he was still very into it.
She pulled their clasped hands to her waist and pressed against him, enough to make him gasp sharply. Charlotte smiled with anticipation. She couldn’t wait to hear more of Gregory loosening up.
They boarded the monorail, squeezing in with everyone else exiting the park and going the same destination. Normally, Charlotte found these moments oppressive; she did her best to avoid leaving the park right after the fireworks. But this time she had Gregory as a distraction, their upper bodies jostling against each other every time the monorail glided around a corner.
After one particularly jarring turn, Gregory wrapped a steady arm around her waist. She leaned in more than she strictly needed to and enjoyed having this solid rock—this sexy, not-as-uptight-as-he-once-seemed solid rock—next to her for support. It made it easy to ignore the crowds. Two stops later, which took far too long, they stepped out of the warm monorail car, into the cool night air. So did a large portion of the crowds, also staying at RetroDream.
“Okay with taking a shortcut that is not actually shorter?” Charlotte asked.
Gregory glanced around them. “Would it get us away from so many people?”
“Absolutely.”
She led him to a sidewalk no one was taking.
“No one else is going this way,” Gregory said. He nudged Charlotte with his elbow. “Should I be worried?”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Should you be worried that you’re with a pro who knows what she’s doing?”
“Right. My bad.”
“In the summer, this walk means getting approximately one dozen bug bites,” Charlotte said, “but this time of year, it’s not so bad.”
“Seems much quieter, too,” Gregory commented.
It was almost too quiet after their day in the park, the loud fireworks, and the hum of all the people on the monorail. Charlotte shook her head, as if to clear out the noise, and tuned into what was around them: the gentle lap of water, a light layer of bug sounds, and their feet on the paved sidewalk.
Her fingers brushed the back of Gregory’s and he took her hand and they walked for a few minutes without saying anything.
“Charlotte. About what happened.”
“That mind-melting kiss?” She hoped he also thought it was mind-melting or she’d shown her hand for nothing.
“Uh, yes. That. It was pretty mind-melting, wasn’t it?”
Whew , Charlotte thought.
“It was. Now what about it? I hope you’re not about to say it was a mistake or that we shouldn’t do it again,” Charlotte said.
“No, it’s not that. I really would like to do it again as soon as possible.”
“So?”
“I want to make sure you also feel that way and that there’s not any weirdness because of Lands or our roles there or anything. I just. I want to make sure you want this in the same way as me.”
Charlotte stopped and jerked her heard toward the side of the path. “There’s a bench over here, let’s sit for a minute.”
“I thought we established sitting and giving our feet a break was a bad idea.”
“You’ll survive.”
Seated and facing Gregory, Charlotte took both of his hands in hers. “First of all, I don’t kiss anyone because they are my boss or whatever.”
“I didn’t mean that—”
Charlotte held up a finger. “Let me finish. I’ve been attracted to you since the day I showed you around Lands and you grabbed my hand on Hydra’s Fury. It wasn’t just because you’re gorgeous.”
Here, Gregory blushed so brightly Charlotte could see it in the dark.
“It was because you were a fish out of water, but you tried new things anyway. You did something scary with a stranger. You opened yourself to possibilities. And look, I know we’ve butted heads, but that is sexy as hell.”
Charlotte looked into her lap and let go of his hands. “So yes, Gregory. I want this. I think I’ve wanted this for a while.”
He leaned in, put a hand on either side of her face, and pulled her in for a kiss, longer and harder than the first time, a kiss with force behind it. Charlotte hadn’t seen Gregory passionate in quite this way—usually his energy was reserved for the perfect PowerPoint graph—and it took her desire to deeper levels. She groaned into his mouth and he answered with what sounded like a low growl.
She pulled back breathless. “Well, I’m glad we took a few minutes to discuss that. Now shall we walk very quickly to our room?”
“I guess this means you don’t want to stop by the lounge for drinks like we talked about?” Gregory asked.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
“Kidding. But a rain check, okay? I want to see that indoor river.”
It sounded like Gregory was saying he wanted to come back to Dreamland with her, and the thought wrapped itself around Charlotte’s heart and squeezed.