I didn’t let my fist move.
Her laughter weakened her grip. I gave her a few seconds to try again, before pushing her hand straight down onto the table.
She laughed, her hand still under mine, our fingers still entwined. I didn’t let go. Neither did she.
Under the table our knees touched, the warmth of her heating every part of me. We didn’t speak, the quietness a fragile shield because whatever was said next would determine where this went.
“You won.” She didn’t move her hand. I could still feel the pressure from her fingers.
“I did.”
“What do you want as your prize?”
I lifted my hand, still holding hers, clasping it. “A kiss.”
“A kiss.” She looked surprised. “From me?”
“From you. You can say no.”
She didn’t. Her eyes darkened, lashes lowering as she looked at my mouth. I saw the flick of her tongue to wet her lips and she leaned her head closer to mine. I met her halfway, her free hand coming onto my shoulder, taking the initiative.
I was expecting a peck. A quick pressing together of our mouths before she pushed her chair back and laughed at me again, but that didn’t happen.
Her lips brushed against mine with the pressure of butterfly wings, then only a millimetre separated us. That pause, the briefest of pauses before one of us breached that gap and this time the kiss carried on; tentative, gentle, light, before deepening, becoming a slow, open-mouthed kiss that made me want to pick her up and sit her on the table, then take her right there.
It burned where she touched. Her hands wandered up my arms, feeling muscle, skin, the back of my neck. Mine had found a way to her hair, wrapping that ponytail around my fist then cupping the back of her head, deepening the kiss, not letting it end.
It stopped like it had begun – slowly. The kiss morphed into shorter, lighter kisses. A nip of her bottom lip and a kiss to make it better and it ended, our foreheads pressed against each other.
I felt like I should go now, because hanging around would only beg for awkward conversations and I was so out of my depth right now, I had no idea how to swim.
So I didn’t move. I found her fingers with mine and threaded mine through hers, listening to the silence, hearing the beat of my heart.
“I’m not sure who won that bet.” Her words were quiet. Whispered.
“Me. Definitely me. Want a rematch?”
She didn’t move her hand away, but she did laugh. “Yes. No. I need to check on Toby.” She still didn’t move.
I didn’t want to move either.
I lifted a hand to touch under her chin, lifting her face, and kissed her again softly. “I should let you do that.” Because that was the right thing to do, as much as, right now, I wanted to see what Sunshine Sparkles’ smile was like when she was happy from an orgasm, she’d end up hating me in the morning.
This time, when the kiss ended, I got off my chair and waited for her, watching her as she stood up. Her lips were swollen and there was a flush to her cheeks that I hadn’t seen before, even after fifty-seven thousand rounds of that bleep test.
“Thank you for tonight. For looking after Toby.” Her chin tipped up, that strength always there.
“Anytime. Call me if you need anything.” I wanted to make a date with her, pin her down to the next time I’d see her, but I didn’t know what the right thing was to do.
“I will.” She walked with me to the door. “See you around.”
“Yep. See you around.”
I wished I knew better what to say.
CHAPTER14
Dee
