"Should we practice kissing before we have to do it in public?"
"Well, you did kiss me on my cheek earlier—" I said to quell the rising panic. He wanted to kiss me? I wasn't prepared for that tonight.
He grinned. "That was a brotherly kiss. No one would believe that we were hot for each other."
I hadn't considered that because it had felt hot to me. I didn't need romance or him taking off his clothes for me to be attracted to him. It only took a simple kiss on the cheek, and I was feeling too much for him. He obviously wasn't having the same problem.
If he could keep his feelings in check, then I could too.
I stood and moved toward him, standing between his spread legs. "What did you have in mind."
His hand went to the back of my legs, and he tugged me closer. Everything inside of me heated, and I was melting into his touch.
I was having a hard time discerning between what was real and pretend in this moment. I looked down at him, wondering if I should straddle his lap.
He pressed behind my knees, and my legs buckled. Then he guided one knee, then the other, over his spread thighs so that I was straddling him.
"This is a little more intense than I planned for our first time." His voice was low and gruff, and I was overcome with sensations: his hard thighs under mine and his hands resting loosely on my hips. I wanted to move closer, to feel whether he was hard for me.
My breath was coming in short pants, and I wasn't sure I was going to survive being this close to him.
He ran his hands up my back, pulling me closer.
I gave in, resting my hands on his shoulders. I settled more fully over him, biting my lip.
He raised a brow. "I'm going to kiss you."
I couldn't do anything but nod in agreement. I was warm all over, and my nerves were firing. I needed him to touch me.
My heart was pounding in my ears as he cupped my jaw and leaned in. When his lips touched mine, my eyes drifted shut. The press was gentle, his touch firm.
His lips moved over mine, coaxing me to open for him. This wasn't a chaste kiss. This was a seduction.
What was he playing at? He had to know that this was above and beyond what we'd have to do in public.
We should have been practicing the chaste church kiss the pastor made you do after you exchanged wedding vows. This wassomething else entirely. It felt like the blood in my veins was on fire, and if I didn't get closer to him, I'd explode.
Instinct kicked in, and I ground over his lap, feeling the length of him through his sweatpants, hard and hot.
His fingers tangled in my hair, and I almost convinced myself that this was real. That it wasn't practice for our pretend relationship, but our first foray into our fling. The hot fling with a single dad firefighter. The one I'd been imagining since I walked into that firehouse, and he was all gruff and grumpy.
He tasted like chocolate and whipped cream. I couldn't resist the way he felt underneath me. He was hard everywhere.
I wanted to reach into his pants and pull him out, but it wasn't what we'd agreed on. It was one practice kiss, even if my body was on fire and I wanted more.
His hand held me to him, his tongue slipping into my mouth. This was more than I thought I could handle. I'd hoped to keep my distance from him. But this position made that impossible.
He gentled his kisses, eventually pulling back. "How was that?"
I felt lightheaded as I climbed off him. My legs were shaky. "That was fine."
His lips curved up. "Fine?"
I nodded like a bobblehead. "I probably won't sit on your lap in front of your daughter and half the town."
He chuckled. "No. That wouldn't be a good idea."
I licked my lower lip, his gaze snagging on the movement. I swear I could still taste him in my mouth and feel his hands in my hair. I wouldn't be able to survive three dates if they were anything like that kiss.
