“See?” I said, but it was breathless, barely a whisper. “You’re not normal.”
His laughter was a gentle vibration all over his body. “You think I’m the not normal one? You’re miniature, Kelly.” He shifted his hand and closed his fingers so we were now holding hands. “If there’s a sizing issue here, it’s not me.”
I had an amazing comeback. Somewhere. My brain had accidentally dropped it when we’d started holding hands, but if he would give me a sec, I could find it. Eventually. Maybe.
Then I made the ultimate mistake of looking into his eyes. They were so warm and green and inviting. They were clearly a trap. And I should obviously resist falling into them. Actually, I’d promised myself I’d never fall into them again. I’d learned a long time ago that once you fell into those eyes, it was very hard to pull yourself out.
But there I was in real time, breaking all the safeguards I’d put in place to protect my stupid heart.
His free hand wrapped around my back and tugged me against him. “I’m going to kiss you now, Ada.”
I licked my lips. “Why are you warning me?”
His mouth kicked up in half a smile. “I didn’t want to scare you and risk getting punched in the face or something.”
I laughed, despite the moment. “I appreciate the heads-up, then.”
“And you’re not going to punch me? Or stab me with your keys?”
Shaking my head slowly, trying to find my wits somewhere in the messy piles of abandoned comebacks and broken promises, I said, “My keys are somewhere over there.” Did I point or indicate which direction “over there” was? No. But Charlie wasn’t exactly asking me to be specific. “And my punches are lethal. I don’t unleash them in public places.”
“I believe you.” He dipped his head closer to mine. “What about your kisses? Are they lethal?”
“Why don’t you find out?”
He leaned into the dare—literally. His lips pressed against mine as gently as possible. To the corner first, so that I couldn’t even kiss him back. Then to the other corner. The dip of my top lip. The swell of my bottom. He kissed as if he were tasting me, remembering me through touch. He kissed as if he were memorizing the moment so he could remember it forever.
Finally, after he had me trembling and ready to cry for no reason, he kissed me fully on the mouth. I kissed him back and winced at the sensory memory of his mouth. God, I’d forgotten what a good kisser he was. How soft his lips were. How full.
He brushed his tongue over my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth, falling back into the exact way I knew he liked, as he kissed me in the exact way he knew I liked.
Our mouths moved slowly at first. Tongue against tongue. My teeth nibbled his bottom lip. We were a cresting wave at low tide. We were the slow crescendo to a symphony’s first movement. We were a gentle breeze through the trees at night. We were the promise of something more, of something fantastic.
God, nobody had ever kissed me like Charlie. In the five years I’d been off him, I’d never found anyone who could kiss me like this. He paid attention to the details. And that was the problem. Nobody else responded to my every small noise, hitch of breath, and tightened muscle.
But Charlie did. He noticed, and he worked to make it more. Make it the most. Drown me in bliss and sensation.
He released my hand so he could wrap both of his around my waist. My shirt was slightly cropped, so we were skin to skin in a way that made me feel delicate, wanted, needed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tipped my head so he could deepen the kiss.
One of his hands moved up my side until it was splayed against my ribs. The other supported my head, so he could tip me back and really have his way with my mouth. I arched against his body as it curled around mine, needing to press every inch of me against every inch of him.
His thumb brushed the underside of my breast. I was wearing a lacy bralette with almost no support. I dragged my nails over the back of his neck, through his hair, in a way I knew drove him crazy.
He palmed my breast in response, then pinched my nipple between two of his fingers. I gasped, and my mind emptied of all rational thought or suggestion of slowing down. My body shifted into touch memory. Charlie’s mouth moved over my jaw, down my neck, across my collarbones.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” His words were a low rumble against my skin. He palmed my breast again, managing to get my nipple in that way he knew drove me crazy.
“Charlie,” I whispered. Or begged?
He spun me around and picked me up to sit on the steel countertop. The metal was cold beneath my bare legs, but Charlie tugged me forward and wrapped them around his waist.
We were better suited height-wise, but he wasn’t interested in my mouth anymore. He dipped his head and captured my nipple in his mouth through the thin material of my T-shirt and bra. I moaned in a way I had not moaned since I was with him. This man knew all the right buttons to push. He was a freaking concert pianist when it came to my body.
He pulled back and rested his arms on either side of me. I sensed he was pulling back, making some kind of smart decision. I hated it.
I took two fistfuls of his work shirt and pulled him closer. I tightened my legs around him, pressing us together in a way that sent shivers spiraling through me. “Don’t stop,” I whispered.
His smile was sad, retreating. He closed his eyes in a visible effort to get ahold of himself. “There were a lot of things I had to make peace with losing, Ada. Things like friendships I ruined. My brother’s and sister’s respect. Credibility. A few collectors’ baseball cards I got from my dad that I ended up selling.” He laughed, but it was self-deprecating. “I’m not sad I sold the cards. I’m just sad I sold them so soon. I think I could have gotten a better price for them.” He laughed again. “Anyway, I’ve had to let go of all these things and find a way to be okay with it. But do you know the one thing that’s never set well with me? The one thing I couldn’t stand to lose and all but refused to give up on?”
