“Nice to meet you,” he says, and Steven nods, then smiles wider—the kind of teeth-baring smile that makes me want to punch him in the face.
“Listen, I’ve been dying to catch up,” he says, all but ignoring JP. “How long are you in town? Do you have time to meet up for a drink after the big reveal? Or perhaps breakfast tomorrow?”
“No.” My voice is soft but direct, and it startles Steven. He’s not used to hearing no.
“Oh, really?”
I hate the preposterous edge in his voice. I hate that every word he’s saying wouldn’t be bad if it was just ink on paper, but his tone, expression, and pitiful eyes make me feel like I’m a dog he wants to shoo away at brunch.
“Really.”
I glance past Steven and see my mother has almost reached us.
“Oh, I just love seeing you two together,” she says, then turns to JP who is casually standing next to me. “Oh, hello. I’m Alexandra.”
“JP,” he says, taking her hand.
She lets out a pretentious aw-slash-oh. Then raises her eyebrows. She’s excusing JP, but instead I excuse us and say, “Shall we?”
“We shall,” JP answers, and my mother almost freezes. Her brow creases, and she sizes up JP for the second time in the last three seconds. She thinks he’s in the way, cock-blocking Steven.
I’d laugh, but it’s not funny.
“Good to see you, Steven.” I nod at myonce wasand slip my hand around JP’s arm as we walk toward the cake table.
He whispers down to me, “I thought we don’t know each other.”
I shrug. “We just met.”
He swallows and bites his lower lip. “Just met yesterday or just now?”
A grin spreads over my face. “With you, it’s hard to say.”
“Why are you so vague? Are we still pretending we don’t know each other?” he pauses, just fifteen feet away from the crowd, and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Or are we going to act like I know how it tastes to kiss you in the middle of the street in downtown Seattle?”
I lick my lips at the memory of our kiss last night.
“I just want to give you what you want,” he adds.
I tilt my head in his direction with a coy smile. “Really?”
“Anything you want.” He stares down at me with hooded eyes and soft lips. “I’ll walk away right now if you don’t want us to know each other today. Or I can kiss you like there’s no tomorrow.”
“I changed my mind,” I say, as he tucks his fingers in my hair and the tension in my body releases in his hands. He waits,reaching up with a soft stroke of his thumb along my jaw. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been with anyone for a long time. I don’t know if it’s because my ex is here and my mother drives me crazy. I don’t know if it’s JP and how he makes me feel wild and reckless. All I know is I don’t want to just know him, I need him. “I want to know you.”
His green eyes glimmer as he studies the curves of my face. He steps closer. “How much?”
“Enough that I’d like to find a bush or a tree to pull you behind so I can kiss you again.”
He raises his eyebrows and smiles.Thatsmile. I smile back—a dare.
JP pushes me to the backside of the rose-covered arbor, where we’re completely out of sight, and runs his thumb along my jaw until it touches my chin. He unleashes a smile before sinking his lips into mine. It’s only our second kiss but damn, it feels achingly familiar. It’s the kind of kiss that falls over my entire body, making my toes tingle. I love the way he holds my face in his hands. I love the way he tastes. I love the way butterflies erupt in my stomach, making me feel like I’m floating away on their wings.
He pulls back, then kisses me once more. Just a soft peck, then again on my forehead.
“We shouldn’t get carried away before the reveal,” I whisper.
He chews on his lip and nods with a shy smile. “You’re right. This could get very out of hand.”
