There was subtext in those four words that I couldn’t decipher. I felt his eyes resting on me while I weighed what to do next.
“Kiss me,” Owen murmured.
“What?” I panic-whispered.
“I said kiss me.Now.”
The directness in his voice sent a shiver through me. He was issuing a command like we were on the court, only a billiontimes sexier. Despite everything we’d discussed about broken hearts and love triangles, we were about to kiss.
Again.
I must’ve nodded, because the next thing I knew Owen was moving closer to gently palm my cheek. My stomach went into a free fall at how damnconvincinghe was as he lovingly stared into my eyes.
“Happy fake birthday, B,” he murmured as he slid closer still, his thumb caressing my cheek.
Soreal. Heartfelt. Believable.
“Ha-happy fake birthday,” I whispered, frozen by his very convincing seduction.
Turns out Owen was ridiculously good at make-believe.
He placed his other hand on my face and drew me to him, his eyes on my mouth likeIwas the dessert that he couldn’t wait to taste. My breathing went shallow and my heart thudded as we relished the delicious moment of before.
The noise around us blotted out. Owen moved closer in slow motion, and I held my breath.
Then his lips touched mine tentatively, like he wasn’t sure how far to take our performative PDA. A hint of a kiss, just a gentle press of our mouths together, but it was enough to send a shock wave through my body. I started to pull back reluctantly, but Owen slid his hand to the nape of my neck to gently hold me in place.
It was his way of conveying that I wasn’t going anywhere. Once again, our kiss wasn’t over untilhedecided it was. I was more than happy to relinquish control after what had happened the last time I kissed him.
His tongue traced along my bottom lip. Heat flooded my body as the sleeping need inside of me roared awake againthanks to Owen. I moved my hands to the tops of his solid thighs and squeezed. I felt him smile against my mouth.
Leo was just a few feet away, no doubt watching our little show since the sparkler was still illuminating the entire patio, but all I could focus on was how fuckingmasterfulOwen was at kissing me. He teased his tongue against mine as he slipped his fingertips through my hair.
I normally wasn’t one for PDA, but Owen had me ready to climb onto his lap and grind against him. We’d gone beyond a “look how happy I am without you, Leo,” kiss to borderline exhibitionist. I wasn’t ready to stop, and based on the way Owen pulled me closer, he wasn’t going anywhere either.
Unfortunately, the sparkler had other ideas. It fell onto the plate with a clank, and I could see the sideways trajectory of the sparks from the corner of my eye.
Owen finally peeled himself away from me. “Whoops.” He laughed softly and righted it in the blob of frosting again.
The sparkler continued sparkling while Owen and I stared at each other. A little flushed, breathing heavy, and if it were up to me, ready for more.
“He saw the whole thing,” Owen ventriloquized through a grin. “You won this match.”
I did feel strangely victorious, in addition to the horniness pulsing through me. I wanted to glance over at Leo, but I knew it was better optics to pretend that I didn’t know he was there. Instead, I focused on Owen.
“Thank you. Once again, you went above and beyond.”
“Of course, it’s our joint fake birthday. We’re celebrating.” Owen’s eyes flicked past me; then he raised my hand to his lips, flipped it over, and kissed the inside of my wrist. “Anything for you.”
My breath caught as his mouth grazed my skin. Suddenly I was a naive debutante in a Regency romance, nearly coming undone from a chaste kiss.
“FYI, he’s very interested in us.” Owen draped our clasped hands on the table, then picked up his fork with the other. He sawed off a hunk of flourless chocolate torte that was next to the spent sparkler. “Let’s give him an absolutely sickening show. Vile happiness. Open up, B.”
I went a little breathless at the command and did as I was told. Owen slid the too-big bite into my mouth, getting a little bit of the frosting on the corner of my lip in the process. He leaned closer to me, dragged his finger through the remnants ringing my mouth, then popped his finger in his mouth to suck it off, wearing a devilish grin.
“Mm.” He lounged back in his chair, his eyes mischievous. “You taste delicious.”
A shudder passed through me, because I’d written that very line after my cowboy Beau kneeled between Savanna’s legs for the very first time. All I could do was nod as I chewed.
