“What it looked like!” she sassed, cutting me off. “Surely you can give me something better than that.”
“I know it looked bad, but that was nothing. I swear it.” I shook my head as I told her, “She was just helping me out with a stiff shoulder.”
Her eyes flickered from my black eye to my wrist, and then back to my face. I could see the wheels turning in her head, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there staring at me. Eventually, she muttered, “She help you out with the black eye and bruised jaw, too?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous.”
“Did you hit your head whenever you did whatever you did?”
I gave her a playful smirk and said, “You got it bad, huh?”
“Luke, this is not the time to be cute. You haven’t said a word about being hurt, because I’m guessing you didn’t want me to know, and instead of being upfront about everything and just telling me you weren’t interested, you just kept stringing me along while you fooled around with little Ms. Susie Q in there.”
“Little Ms. Susie Q?”
She sounded completely outdone when she hissed, “Just forget it.”
When she started for her car, I took hold of her arm and gently pulled her towards me as I said, “Hey, easy now. Don’t go running off on me. You have some explaining to do.”
“Me?” she gasped. “What do I have to explain?”
“For starters, what made you think I wasn’t interested in you?”
“Well, typically when a man is interested in a woman, he wants to see her and spend time with her, and...” She looked down at her feet and sighed. “Just forget it. Forget everything. This whole thing is so stupid. I should’ve never listened to Lila Kate. I should’ve just…”
Her words trailed off, and I used the opportunity to bring my hand up to her jaw, gently lifting her chin just enough for her to look at me. I held her gaze for a moment, and when I saw the emotion in her eyes, I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers.
I kissed her like I’d never kissed anyone before.
She didn’t resist.
Instead, she kissed me right back. I knew then I still had a chance, and by damn, I was going to take it. It didn’t take long for me to get lost in her. The scent of her skin, the warmth of her mouth, and her body so close to mine had me losing all sense of control. I couldn’t help myself.
She felt too good, too right, and I’d missed her.
I missed her more than I cared to admit.
Every touch of her tongue only made me want her more. Having her mouth on mine set me on edge, making every nerve in my body burn with need. I felt heat surge through me as I deepened the kiss, and we were both quickly losing control.
I liked the feeling.
I liked it more than I thought possible.
Hell, it was all I could do to keep myself from taking her right there on the hood of her car, and I might’ve done just that if one of the guys hadn’t shouted, “Get a fucking room.”
Presley jerked back, breaking our kiss with a gasp.
While the haze of the kiss was still thick, I reached down and took her hand in mine, leading her back inside. She followed me down the hall and into my room. As soon as I kicked the door closed, I was on her again, kissing her with everything I had.
I needed her to know that she was wrong about me not being interested.
Hell, there was no doubt that I was.
But finding me with Misty put doubt in her head, and I had to address that before it put a wedge between us. I reluctantly pulled my lips from hers, and she looked up at me and stilled. She waited patiently for me to make my next move, but I stayed put.
I needed a moment to find the right words to say to her, and they weren’t coming easy, especially when she was standing there looking at me with flushed cheeks and longing in her eyes.
“Remember me saying that if we were going to do this we had to do it right… We take it slow and keep it honest. No holding back or half-truths.”
