David had kissed Ada a couple of times, but they were chaste kisses, ones in the garden after a dance or a dinner. She hadn’t felt a thing and had always wondered if something was wrong with her when she compared it to the way her friends described kisses with their husbands.
Now she understood. Their descriptions had nothing on how she currently felt, being kissed by Jonny.
She should pull away, but she couldn’t stop, and she never wanted to. Shivers ran down her spine, and then he sucked her tongue, and she almost lost sensation in her legs, but he was there to hold her up, against him.
She reached her hand up to his hair, tugging on the thick strands, and he let out another low groan as he pulled her even closer to him, so that she could feel every hard line of his body. She heard a moan that she realized must have come from her, and she nipped at his bottom lip and felt him shudder against her.
She loved how it felt to be in his arms, the way his hard bicep against her back made her feel safe, strong, protected, like he would always be there to catch her, no matter what happened.
She wasn’t sure how long the kiss would have lasted had the door not opened behind them, bumping into Jonny and sending them both a step backward. Ada nearly fell over, but of course, he was there, catching her, not letting her go.
She had a feeling that if she were his, he never would.
She stared up at him, eyes wide, breathless, as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.
She wasn’t sure there was any sense to be made of it. They were just two people, going off the heat of impulse for one another.
“Leave you to it,” came Milton’s low, steady voice behindthem as he returned to the tavern, the door shutting behind him.
“Jonny,” Ada said, blinking. “What was that?”
“You tell me,” he said, shrugging as though it had meant nothing to him. “You started it.”
His eyes flashed, though, and Ada knew that, as much as he was trying to play it off, he had felt something.
“I’ve got to go,” he said. “You can’t stay out here alone.”
“I—I know,” she said, letting him hold the door open for her. He watched her return to her seat, and then he was gone, disappearing into the night.
She’d like to say she had won that round, but she decided that she’d have to give that one to him. For he had only left her sitting there in shock, wondering what the hell had just happened.
“Jonny, you have to come with us.”
“Absolutely not.”
“But everyone will be there! Harcourt’s invited the entire team.”
“So?”
“So, this is a big deal. He’s a viscount, Jon! We can’t deny his invitation.”
Jonny turned to Tommy in exasperation as they walked off the practice field. “So, because he’s a viscount, I should drop everything to attend this fancy party? You realize we’re going to be a laughingstock.”
“We will not. Everyone loves Manchester Central, and we are practically Harcourt’s team.”
Because the man was on the club committee and sponsored everything they did.
Jonny sighed. “Is it mandatory?’
“No, but you know how Rhys is?—”
“You’re going, Tate!” Rhys called from across the room, where they were changing.
“How does he do that?” Tommy asked, wrinkling his nose. “He didn’t even turn around. We’re all the way across the room.”
“I can still hear you,” Rhys called out, and Tommy just shook his head in disbelief before returning to changing.
“I know why you don’t want to go, Jonny, and it’s understandable,” Colin said.
