Emboldened, I keep going. “We were so close, I felt like we were best friends. Eventually, though, he grew this gigantic chip on his shoulder, and we just drifted apart and never managed to reconnect the same way.”
Kellin shifts closer, his knee pressing against mine. “Why do you think that is?”
“How much time do you have?” I laugh, but even I hear the hollowness. “It’s a long story.”
He tilts his head, gaze on my face. On my freckles. His eyes bounce between them before he uses a single finger to connect the dots.
The simple caress lights up my nerves. I’ve never cared either way about my freckles, but the way he lingers on them fills my heart with dangerous warmth.
“I have the time.” He captures my hand, tracing his thumb along the inside of my wrist.
I fight off the shiver that inches down my spine from the contact. “You really don’t. Not for my sad childhood story.” I scrunch up my face and rip my hand away to fidget with a loose lock of hair at my shoulder. “The abridged version is that I was twelve when my mom died, and Brody was ten. Really hard, vulnerable ages. And my family is incapable of discussing tragedy in any sort of healthy way. My mother’s deathintroduced the first fracture into our relationship, but we grew further apart later.”
Why am I spilling all this like a broken wine bottle? I’m such an idiot.
I pull out my phone, seeking any excuse to ignore Kellin and the growing heat in my cheeks. I could kiss my calendar app when a notification pops up. “I’m sorry, I have a meeting with a vendor in a few minutes.” I flip the screen around to prove it’snota lie, though I’m not sure why I need to explain myself.
I grab his empty glass in one hand, mine in the other, and all but sprint toward the door, my four-inch heels clacking on the wood flooring.
“Maeve.”
The husky way he calls my name melts over my body like liquid smoke and velvet.
My legs stop before my mind tells them to. I hide a shudder by spinning back toward him. “Yes?”
Kellin takes his time catching up with me. “I needed this break too.” He leans in, his breath on my cheek. Earthy spice from the drink and his delicious scent wash over me.
For a moment, we’re not on the roof of my hotel, but a million miles away on a tropical beach.
“And thank you for sharing.” He swings an arm around my waist. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
Not a request.
A warning.
Kellin devours my neck, sucking from my collarbone up to my earlobe. My knees weaken, my entire body swooning at the intense burst of painful pleasure.
Except there’s one problem. “Um, glassware!” I can’t even touch him because I have an empty cordial glass in each hand.
Not fair.
The thought to just let them fall crosses my mind.
His laugh rumbles through my torso as he switches sides to ensure both receive equal attention. “Just enjoy yourself.” His lips climb up my neck to meet my other ear, where he nips my lobe. The tiny pinch of pain shoots straight to my core. His tongue travels along my jawline, slowly mapping its way to my lips.
Both of his hands curve around my lower back, locking me in place as our mouths meld, his tongue stroking mine in a simulation of sex that causes my thighs to clench.
His arms are basically holding me up at this point, forcing all my weight against him. The casual display of strength buzzes electrical pulses to my clit.
The high-pitched crack of two cordial glasses smashing against the wooden floor barely penetrates my blissful fog. I wrap my arms around his neck, tugging closer, clinging tighter.
More, more, more.
He walks me backward to the bar and lifts me against the counter, his hands on the back of my thighs keeping them in vice grips I have no urge to escape.
I hike up my skirt to wrap a leg around his waist. He squeezes my ass with both hands as he presses me into his erection, and I groan into his mouth.
An ember flares in my stomach. Like wildfire cascading out of control, the heat spreads, blazing through every limb and cell until I can’t hear anything beyond the thud of my own heart.
