“Give me a moment.” I hold up one finger, taking deep breaths in and releasing them slowly. What have I done?
I kissed my playboy boss.
On the front porch of his childhood home.
And… I KISSED MY BOSS.
Weworktogether. I have to pretend he didn’t resurrect my dead soul with the electricity in his lips come Monday.
“What happens in Dasher Valley stays in Dasher Valley, Lucy May. Remember? Don’t think too much about what happens when we are back at work.”
He grabs my hand I held up and kisses the tip of my pointed finger. I stare wide-eyed and a smidge hypnotized. Stone smirks, folds my finger down, then kisses my knuckles. “Are you still worrying about Monday?”
I shake my head, but then I say, “Well, I am now that you mention it.”
“Hm.” He pauses, moving to sit on his knees, and kisses the inside of my elbow. “And now?”
“If you keep reminding me, how will I stop thinking about it?” I ask, breathless and jittery with anticipation.
“Maybe I keep reminding you because I want an excuse to keep making you forget.” He kisses the top of my shoulder, and I can’t hold in my sigh. Somewhere, deep down, I know I’m going to regret every moment of this.
But right now is not that time.
Feeling emboldened by his free show of desire, I pucker my lips into a moue. “My lips miss your attention, Mr. Harper. Maybe if you appease their longing for you, I’ll forget about Monday.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You long for me?”
My face burns hotter than it already was. I open my mouth to protest, to tell him it was Romance Writer Brain’s fault, but he captures my lips with his, effectively removing any semblance of embarrassment I felt.
Chapter 6
Stone
“Hold still,” Lucy commands, her minty breath too close for comfort. It elicits memories from last night when I had the best kiss of my life, and that’s saying something considering I’ve kissed a lot of women.
I suspected Lucy knew how to kiss, but I wasn’t expecting to have my world turned upside down. And what was with those images of us getting married and moving into my house and having babies? The explosions, I understand. Her kiss was dynamite to my self-control. But the rest?
No way.
What happens in Dasher Valley stays in Dasher Valley.
“What are you thinking about, Pebbles?” I can hear the smirk in her voice. “Your face is getting pink.”
“Pebbles? You’re sticking with that?”
“You call me by my author name. And then you gave me the nickname ‘Little Lion.’ It’s only fair you get one, too.”
“You can’t choose another variation of my name? Pebbles? Like I’m a caveman fromThe Flintstones?”
She snickers, patting me on top of my head. “Pebbles was the girl. You’re thinking of BamBam.”
“Great, so I’m a cavewoman.Noted.” I try to sound offended, but honestly, I’m enjoying this light, playful side to her. If she wants to call me Pebbles, so be it. As long as it makes her smile and not look like she’s the blue emotion, Sadness, fromInside Out.Since we’re talking cartoons and all right now.
Lucy’s shallow breaths (I can tell she’s trying to hold her breath as her face is near mine) once again reminds me of the twenty minutes we spent making out on the floor of the porch last night.
I want to open my eyes and see if desire swims in her hazel eyes as it pools in my gut, but right now, I’m forced to rely on my sense of touch as I sit on the toilet seat in the small bathroom I once shared with my older sister.
Lucy’s finger brushes underneath my eyes as she rubs in arnica cream that she swears will assist in a quicker healing of my bruised eyes. She had given me a tub of it before we left her apartment yesterday, and I’d been applying it as she instructed. She took on the task right now, however, because she’s going to apply makeup to my face to lessen the visibility of the bruising for the wedding. She apparently has this fancy concealer for covering tattoos that also works for bruises. When I asked her why she needed something strong enough to cover bruises, she laughed and said that it was due to job hazards. That’s when I remembered she got a black eye a few months ago while at work.
