He sauntered forward to tower over her, his body heat exuding into the cool air. His salty musk, laced with the faint scent of sun-warmed wood and lake water, curled around her. Her breath hitched and her pulse hammered, but she met his gaze with all the strength she could muster.
“Because someone kept begging for my kisses the last time I saw her, and I am a man all too eager to please.”
His arm looped around her waist, pulling her in close. She was already tilting her face upward when the memory rose, unbidden, of how he’d gone cold after their first kiss. How his terrible smile had hollowed her out and made her feel foolish. She couldn’t bear that again. Not when her lips fairly tingled with the desire to kiss him. When her body begged to melt against his. And her heart—the dratted thing—yearned for more than she dared say.
“Wait,” she blurted.
He stilled. “What’s wrong? Is it a bug?”
A startled laugh tore from her throat. “Not a bug, no. Is that really the only reason you can think of why I may hesitate?”
“Considering the number of times you puckered up in the carriage? Yes.”
“That was the laudanum’s fault!”
“I know.” His hand stroked up and down her back. “But I also know it gave you the courage to express things you’d usually keep to yourself. The only thing I don’t know is what’s causing you to think twice now. So why don’t you tell me?”
She searched his expression and found no judgment there, only patience. He really did want her to tell him. Besides, what was the point in dodging the hard questions? If she wanted that kiss—and she did—she needed reassuring first.
“You…you won’t give me that terrible smile after we kiss, will you?”
“What terrible smile?”
She grinned as broadly as she could, showing every tooth. His hand stilled on her back.
“That better not be an imitation of my signature charming smile.”
“I’m afraid it is. I don’t like it.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because it isn’t real. You use it to cajole people into giving you what you want. Or to pretend everything is fine, even if it isn’t. I…I don’t want you to use it with me.”
He blinked, clearly never having considered that. “What should I do instead?”
“Smile normally, of course.”
“And what does that look like?” She gave her best approximation of his crooked smile, and he barked out a laugh. “Oh, for the love of God. I never look like that.”
“You do right now,” she insisted, touching the corner of his mouth before he could argue. The soft curve she found there filled her chest with joy. “I like it.”
He groaned dramatically. “All right. I’ll try to look ugly for you.”
“It’s not ugly. It’s real.”
“Maybe I won’t smile at all.”
She tilted her head, pretending to think it over. “That could work, too.”
“Come here, you wretched tease.”
He swooped down, and then his lips were on hers. She sighed into his mouth, her lips parting eagerly as he sipped and teased and caressed. She rose on her tiptoes to meet him, her good hand climbing its way up his chest to rest against his thudding heart. She’d never felt such hunger for a man. Never had a man feast on her lips like she was all the sustenance he needed to survive. It was strange. Wonderful. And only made her want more. He walked them backward slowly, his lips not leaving hers, until the backs of his knees hit the porch swing.
He broke the kiss with a ragged inhale, then sank onto the swing and pulled her onto his lap. His hands steadied her as she draped her legs over his and leaned carefully against his solid chest. She chanced a glance upward and was met with a radiant, crooked smile.
“Oh my,” she breathed, then immediately flushed. But Emil didn’t seem to mind her brainless reaction. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, his splayed hand on her back gripping her tighter.
“That was supposed to be a simple kiss hello. But like everything else with you, things got quickly out of control.”
