Josh snaked his arm around my waist and kissed the back of my head. “No, you didn’t, Bri. He’s upset.”
“He’s upset because of me.” I dumped the shells in the trash and lifted my eyes to his. “I wanted you, and I couldn’t admit it to myself, so I hurt him. And I have to live with that.”
“When?”
My brow creased as I turned around. “When what?
“When did you know you wanted me?”
I dropped the whisk into the bowl and faced him.
“When you rang my doorbell in September.” My lips pursed as I shook my head. “I tried to reason away my feelings, but I couldn’t pretend to not love you. Denying it made me just this side of batshit crazy. But you knew that, too. I can tell you when it started to . . . become impossible to ignore, I guess.”
I crossed my arms and locked my gaze with his.
“The night you met Amanda and me at the bar. She saw it. She noticed how we couldn’t stop touching each other and how we acted like no one else was even there. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just an old memory of a crush I was feeling for you, no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise. Then the night you found out about your mother and I came over to check on you. When you finally told me how you felt, I was thrilled and scared out of my mind at the same time.”
His hand slid to the nape of my neck. “That’s when you pulled away, right?”
“You have no idea how much I wanted to crawl into bed with you. As I said, I tried.” I gave him a slow nod. “But it didn’t work, did it?”
I cupped his cheek and planted a quick kiss to his lips. “I’m fine. I just need to beat these eggs up for a little while.”
Josh kissed my forehead before stepping out of the kitchen. As fast as I moved the whisk around the bowl, beating the eggs didn’t make me feel any less beaten, or rotten.
An old slow song blared from Josh’s phone. My eyebrows raised as I lifted my head.
“You own a motorcycle shop, and that’s your ring tone?”
“Dance with me.” He held out his hand as a sweet smile curved his lips.
“Dance with you? In my kitchen, in my pajamas, on Christmas morning?”
Josh shrugged, sheepish and adorable. “I should’ve danced with you a long time ago. I should’ve taken you to that school dance, to prom. I should’ve been with you all along. I can’t go back, but—” He grabbed my hand and looped it around his neck. “I can dance with you now. How ‘bout it, Cupcake?” He cinched his arms around my waist and pulled my body flush to his.
“You’re cute when you want to be, Falco.” I melted into his embrace as we swayed back and forth. It didn’t seem ridiculous; it seemed . . . right. We were still two kids in love, but this time we didn’t have to hide it—from ourselves or each other.
“And you’re gorgeous, all the time.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I don’t have to share you with anyone or wait for the right time. Now, it’s just you.” His lips brushed my cheek and painted more kisses down my jaw. “And me.” Josh nipped his way down my neck as I fisted the material of the back of his T-shirt. My knees liquified as I struggled to stay upright.
“It’s always been you,” he whispered in my ear. I grabbed his face and crashed my lips into his. His fingers tangled in my hair as his tongue swept along my bottom lip. I whimpered into his mouth before I pulled back.
I smiled at Josh’s hooded eyes before burrowing into his chest.
“I’m a little . . . nervous.” I lifted my eyes to his. Nervous was a gross understatement. It was as if our whole lives led up to this moment, making me feel thrilled and terrified at the same time.
“Nervous? Aroundme? Why?” His hand feathered down my cheek.
“Becauseit’s you.” My chest heaved as I tried to get a handle on my nerves. “Because I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“Disappoint me?” He snickered and shook his head. “There is no way in hell that you could ever disappoint me. Just you being here with me, knowing you’re mine. That’s enough. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever known, and I thought that even before I knew you could kiss like that.” His fingers glided along the straps of my tank top before pulling them down. His warm, wet mouth was back on me again, inching open-mouthed kisses across my shoulder and up toward the back of my ear, nipping at my lobe before sucking it into his mouth.
“Josh,” I clutched the back of his head as he pulled my tank top down to my waist. He stood, his darkened gaze pinning me to the tiles on my kitchen floor.
“Bri,” he rasped as he cupped my jaw. “Are you sure?”
I didn’t say a word in reply as I lifted my top over my head and stepped out of my pajama pants. I cringed for a moment, remembering the snowflake panties I wore, but recovered quickly. I wanted this, I wanted him. We’d had enough delayed gratification to last us two lifetimes.
Josh’s mouth fell open as his eyes glossed down my body. His lips moved as if he was about to speak, but a throaty croak was all that came out.
