“Trouble in paradise?” Mia whispers, marching up the stairs behind me.
“Nah. Just a minor disagreement,” I reply with a smile. “We’ll sort it out.”
The bedrooms are all the same. Empty and cold. I’m still barely paying attention as I search for a place to pull Fable aside again and clear this up. Idon’t want another moment to pass without her remembering what really happened.
Finally, when Cathy leaves the third bedroom and Mia trails after her, I seize my opportunity. Itug Fable into a tiny closet, leaving the door open. Gray light from the bedroom window filters in to reveal her expression. Arms crossed, shoulders back, chin tipped up—a mad little hellion.
She could take me down in a heartbeat. I’d let her.
“Do you remember what I said after you tried to kiss me?” I ask softly.
An annoyed grumble. “You don’t have to do this. Ipromise.”
“Do. You. Remember?” I clasp her cheeks, desperate at this point. Ineedher to know the truth.
Her eyes meet mine, searching. I watch her think through it, several emotions flickering over her features quickly.
I clear my throat. “I’d spent all night watching you laugh, dance, twirl around in that short, flirty dress. Bare legs. That freckle on display.” Her breath hitches. “You were trying to kill me, I think.”
She gives me a sly look. “I’ve been threatening to for a while.”
“I’m an easy target when it comes to you, sweetheart.”
In a flash, she moves out of my reach, glowering at me again. “Don’tcall me sweetheart. You have to stop flirting with me.”
“Don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.”
She groans and points to my face. “See, you’re doing it again. Thatlook.”
I can’t help but smile. “This is just my face.”
“No.” She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment. “It’s not just your face. It’s the way you look atme. Idon’t know what it is, but it makes me feel...” She cuts herself off.
“Good? Warm? Greedy?” I finish for her. “Because that’s how it feels when I’m looking at you this way. Like I want to hold you close and keep you all to myself. Like I might finally know peace if I press my lips to yours.”
That catches her off guard. She freezes, eyes wide, lips parted.
I step closer. “What did I say after you tried to kiss me? Think about it.” Slowly, I lift my hand to cup her face, thumb at the corner of her mouth, palm spanning her jaw. “You were only inches away. Your tongue darted out over your lips, and you got this adorable little line between your brows—like you were so focused and intent on what you were about to do.” My thumb slides over her bottom lip. “I had to stop you, but what did I say?”
Rain patters loudly against the house, and I don’t know where Cathy and Mia are, but I couldn’t care less. The entireworld has narrowed to this closet. There’s a buzzing, electric tension gathering in the air between us. Pressing into my skin. Coiling in my muscles.
I see the moment the memory returns. Her eyes spark, twin flames in the dim closet. “Oh,” she whispers.
“What did I say?” I ask again.
Her throat works on a slow swallow. “You said... you’ve dreamt of kissing me. Thoroughly and enthusiastically.”
My heart beats faster. “And?”
“And you didn’t want me to regret anything.”
“Right. It was never about not wanting to kiss you. Iwantyou so much it hurts. It consumes me, takes up all the space in my brain. Ican’t get away from it, no matter how hard I fucking try.” I thread my fingertips into her hair. “You’re allowed to be as grumbly about last night as you want to, but I stopped you because it was the right thing to do.” I shake my head, wondering how we got this so mixed-up. “And to be completely honest, the crankier you are, the more I want to kiss you.”
She licks her lips. A faint blush rises on her cheeks. “So, this ... tension... you feel it too?”
My free hand folds around her waist, and I step toward her. “Yes. Fuck. All the time. Idon’t know how to make it go away.”
Her gaze flickers to my mouth. “Maybe we just try it. See if it helps.”
