I wanted to feel her lips on mine so badly that it wiped out every rule I’d made for myself.
She lifted her face, eyes wide, lips parted slightly in surprise, and the sight hit me like a punch.
I didn’t step away or loosen my hold.
I couldn’t.
She whispered, “Carson…”
Her voice was soft and unsteady. She wasn’t scared, but there was something else.
My mind raced with options.
A challenge.
A question.
A warning.
A wanting.
I didn’t know which.
My body leaned toward her, not enough to claim anything, but enough that she could feel the shift.
Her breath hitched and then…
She kissed me.
Me.
It wasn’t tentative or shy.
Her lips found mine in a hot, sudden, breath-stealing kiss that shocked the cold straight out of the night.
Her hands slid up to the back of my neck as she stood on her toes.
Sienna’s mouth fit against mine perfectly…too perfectly, and the sweetness from the drinks inside made her lips like a dessert.
Her body pressed into mine like she already knew exactly where she belonged.
I kissed her back before my brain fully caught up.
Heat shot through me as something I hadn’t felt in years followed briskly. A desire that wasn’t messy or confusing or weighed down with obligation churned through me that was raw and electrifying attraction.
She deepened the kiss, and I responded instinctively. My hand slid up her back, pulling her closer, and my thumb brushed the edge of her jaw.
Her lips trembled once against mine, and we finally pulled apart, breathless in the snowy quiet.
She stared at me, and I stared at her.
No words or thoughts came to me, just the realization crackling between us like static.
But then a roar of applause exploded from The Hungry Buck.
We turned sharply, and half the dining room was pressed against the windows and staring through the open front door.
Beck had both hands cupped around his mouth like a megaphone from the steps.
