“It is. That’s the girl that choked on Cheez Whiz.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” Harmony snorts. “Eevee’s habits were always interesting.”
Liam nuzzles closer into my neck and all but growls, “God, I love the way you work a can of cheese.”
The two women blink at his backside as if to say we knew something was clearly wrong since you’ve chosen this weird Shrek meets Strawberry Shortcake hybrid, but we didn’t realize it was this bad.
“You do love your cheese.” I pat his chest and press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “I call it his little feta-ish.” I wink conspiratorially at Harmony.
He bites on his knuckle, suffocating a laugh but still looking oddly aroused, his stare heavy and dark under his thick-hooded lashes.
Danger. Danger. My internal alarm sirens.
“Will you look at the time? The tower’s ready to sparkle,” I sing, gesturing for him to turn. “Oh, actually. Harmony, would you mind taking a photo of us for Instagram?”
Harmony rolls her eyes but nods. “Lord knows your traffic needs it.”
Forcing a smile, I hand my phone over to her and follow Liam to an empty-ish space a few feet away. The Eiffel Tower looms overhead, glittering in the night sky as Liam snakes his arm around my waist, his splayed fingers burning an imprint into my side. Harmony holds the phone horizontally and takes a photo.
“This pose is boring,” Samantha yells. “Y’all need to kiss. It’d be gold on Insta with the sparkles.”
Harmony shoots her some serious side-eye.Oh, poor sweet Samantha, we hardly knew your actual name.
Liam tenses next to me. Samantha’s not wrong (though I fear a name isn’t the only lived experience she and my American girl doll are about to share), kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower is the perfect picture. But I don’t want to push Liam further out of his comfort zone than he already is.
“I’m fine with it if you are,” he whispers.
“Are you sure?”
“It’s just a kiss.” He shrugs.
Right, just a kiss, that’s it. Not the thing I’ve been fantasizing about my entire life or anything.
“We’re on a time limit with the sparkles, guys,” Harmony shouts.
I nod. “Just a kiss, totally fine,” I repeat, more so to myself. “It is the better photo.”
“Then we probably should do it.”
“Yeah.” I shake my hands out at my side with a little shimmy. “We should.”
Liam wraps an arm around me, resting his hand on the small of my back and igniting the embers that always burn brighter when he’s near. He dips his head, bringing his lips to my ear. “Slight note. Maybe don’t do your nervous energy dance before we kiss next time.” He kisses my cheek, and my eyes flutter closed at the sensation. Shimmers radiate from the side of my face, heating the rest of me in an instant. “I’m going to kiss you for real now, Peaches.”
I nod, blinking my lids back open.
My skin hums with anticipation as our proximity narrows, until my chest presses against his hard wall of muscle. He gently cradles the back of my head, tangling in my mess of strawberry curls.
I try to keep the impending breath hitch silent. Try to hide the fact that everything inside is screamingOh my god, we’re about to kiss Liam Kelly.
Liam’s eyes lock on mine with a dark intensity I thought was reserved for dreamland, and he lowers his head with slightly parted lips that brush against mine. Air steals from my lungs with the contact. Weak-kneed, I’m grateful for the support of his arm against my back.
But this kiss, this soft gentle caress, I need so much more than this. My masochistic tendencies were wrong. We were never going to be okay with just a taste. Suddenly, an impulsive, far too ignored part of me breaks free from its cage as if his mouth’s imprint held the key, and I wrap a hand around his neck, tugging him deeper against my mouth and ravishing him with a hungry embrace. Whatever senseless instinct kicked in, it takes a few beats for the rest of me to catch up and register what is happening.
I amkissingLiam Kelly.
Hard.
And nothing’s ever felt so utterly sweet passing over my lips.
