His lips were sweet and gentle. As their mouths moved softly against each other, her heart swelled. Oh, this... this was divine.
His tongue gently pushed against her lips as if it wanted to gain entry. She had assumed that this would’ve been a quick, obligatory lips-only kiss, but she was pleasantly surprised she was wrong. She wanted more, more of him, more of his heat. She opened her mouth for him, anddamn. He tasted like the rum from the ponche, and he smelled like freshly chopped firewood. Adrenaline pulsed through her body as he explored her mouth and pressed his hard body againsther soft one. She was still wearing that stupid pillowy baby bump, and she just wanted to rip it off and get even closer to him.
The kiss made her core ache with longing for more intimacy. After all of the years imagining what her first kiss would be like, who it would be with, and if it would ever even happen, the moment was here and now. And it was delicious.
Too soon, he thumbed her chin and slowly pulled away from her.
Her chest caved. He was probably thinking what a horrible kisser she was. That there was a very good reason no one had ever wanted to kiss her before now.
There was something fundamentally unattractive and unappealing about her, she was sure of it. Her father had always said that she needed to be more ladylike. That was definitely part of it. She was too shrewd, too opinionated, too just inherently unlikable. Which was perfect for business, an area she never doubted herself in, but just the thought of dimming herself for a man made her feel helpless.
“I’m sorry.” She looked at the ground, feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment.
“For what? Don’t be. I’m not.” He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “It was great. I’d like to do it again.”
Again? Well, maybe—
No.No. Another kiss was a bad idea. One kiss had been fine to ease the tension between them. And quite frankly, it was a relief to finally get it over with, to not be that weirdo woman who had never been kissed.
Another kiss was definitely out of the question. She’d almost lost her sense of self in that kiss. She couldn’t risk it again.
But there was one problem.
She’d liked the kiss. Actually, she’d loved the kiss. She wanted to kiss him again and again. She wanted him to want to kiss her back.
And not just on her lips. She would let Enrique kiss her neck,sprinkling even more kisses on her breasts, and maybe even down her body, in between her legs. A shiver passed over her.
Yes, she was a virgin, but it wasn’t exactly by choice. She most certainly was not saving herself for marriage, an institute she had no desire to partake in. Her virginity was not a prize for a future husband.
Maybe she wanted to have sex. Hell, a lot of sex.
Enrique would be great in bed. In fact, he’d be a perfect guy to take her virginity. Because then he would go back to San Diego, and she would never have to see him again. He wouldn’t be able to break her heart because she would know from the beginning that there was no happily ever after for them.
But Carolina reminded herself that though the kiss might have been real, their relationship was completely fake. He had been a gentleman ever since she’d met him and had not ratted her out on her awful behavior in front of her father.
And now she had roped this gentleman, who probably gave her this kiss out of pity, into a fake relationship with her. She didn’t need to go around fooling herself into thinking she could ever have something so out of reach.
She needed to do what she did best—take control. “I think maybe we should set some ground rules for this arrangement.”
He laughed out loud. “You’re giving me rules, babe? You told your father that I was your boyfriend, and now you want to tell me how this is going to go? That’s not how it’s going to work.”
Oh no. What had she done? What if his gentlemanly behavior had been some sort of act? He had asked for a kiss, which was one thing, but what if he expected her to sleep with him? Sure, she hadjustentertained the thought of losing her virginity, but that was on her terms, not his. She wasn’t going to trade sex as some sort of payment for this ruse.
She stood strongly and stared him down. “I-I’m not going to sleep with you just because you are pretending to be my boyfriend.” Even if he was kind of handsome. And thatkiss...
But a kiss did not a good man make.
If Carolina slept with him, it would be because she wanted to, for fun, even to finally lose her V-card, but definitely not because she owed it to him. She didn’t owe anything to anyone. Her home and the farm were paid in full.
He touched her chin with his thumb. “Hey, wait. Relax. I’m not like that at all. I would never, ever pressure you to do something you don’t want with me. There’s nothing sexier than enthusiastic consent. I wouldn’t have even kissed you if you hadn’t agreed to.”
His words soothed her soul and took the edge off her nerves. Ay, she was such a mess. She had just completely freaked out for no reason. She did believe he was a kind man. A good man.
She shook her head to clear it, and the world around them started turning again. A patient was wheeled in from an ambulance by paramedics, while doctors shouted orders over the sirens.
This was definitely not the most romantic spot.
“Okay. Sorry, I overreacted. I do that a lot.”
