Her expression sombers. “It nearly killed me when I ran away because I knew I was in love with you…”
My pulse skyrockets at her confession.
“But given my family’s sins, I assumed you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”
I grab her by the back of the neck and bring our foreheads together. “When you told me you wanted our relationship to remain fake, it was like sticking a dagger through my heart. But a part of me couldn’t give up on you. On us.”
“I didn’t want to bring you down.”
“That would never happen.”
She pulls away. “You’re sure?”
I give her a pointed look.
“Okay, okay.”
“By God, she got it.”
She rolls her eyes.
“I have an important question for you.”
She shimmies in her seat. “I’m ready.”
“Harley, will you be my real girlfriend?”
She bursts out laughing. “Yes, I’ll be your real girlfriend. But, for the record, that sounded like we’re in high school— Wait.” She lifts a hand up. “If we were still in high school, then you’d be my teacher.” Her eyes widen. “Oooohhh, forbidden teacher student romance?—”
“Shut your pretty mouth and kiss me, Goldilocks.” I crush my lips against hers.
She opens for me with a soft moan, allowing our tongues to tangle and brush against one another. She laces her arms around my neck, and I deepen the kiss, savoring her.
I’ll never get enough of kissing her.
I break the kiss and pull away from her. “Bad girl for making me worry.”
“Sorry.” Her voice is breathy.
I shake my head, pinning her with a mock scornful look.
A glint flashes in her eyes.
“What?”
She tilts her head side to side as if debating with herself.
“Harley, no more secrets.”
“I’ve been abad, badgirl.”
Recognition hits me like a freight train.
I arch a brow. “Yes, you have been.”
She licks her lips, and I zoom in on them, the yearning to pull them into my mouth again all-consuming.
My mind races. “You had me cross the border, the Hudson River, and the waters of New York Bay. To add insult to injury, you had me step into a place that made me want to bathe my body in bleach.” I narrow my gaze on her. “There are consequences to being a bad girl.”
