“This is all in your hands. I know what I want. I know what the risks are. But the way I feel…it’s too strong. It’s too strong for me to ignore what this is.” I pressed my forehead to hers, surprised that she didn’t pull away. “I understand why you’re scared. I understand if it’s too big of a risk for you. If that’s the case, you tell me to leave right now. I’ll go back home, show up at work on Monday, and be your biggest supporter. I don’t want to hold you back. I want to celebrate it with you. But if this isn’t what you want, I need to know now because once we cross that line, Angel, there’s no going back. Not for me.”
My lungs burned, waiting for her response. She studied my face, her eyes glistening as she lifted a hand to trace her fingertips over my stubble.
“I knew when I saw you in that grocery store that I was in trouble.” Her words were quiet, a whisper away.
She pulled back enough to meet my stare.
Then she smoothed her hand down my neck, resting it on my shoulder. “I need you to do something for me.”
I swallowed. “Anything.”
Her lips tilted in a daring smile. “Kiss me.”
My fucking pleasure.
I pressed my lips to hers, not with an urgency or a frenzy, but gentle and soft. I cradled her face, my mouth moving against hers with the promise of more. Time evaporated, therightnessof the kiss being more real than anything I’d ever felt. When she opened for me, I let my tongue slide out to graze against hers. She moaned, arching toward me as I pulled away, dropping one more light kiss on her lips.
Her eyes stayed closed as I stared at her pretty face. Those freckles I thought were adorable were even more enticing under the pendant lights of the kitchen. A small furrow wrinkled her brow as if she were thinking. Processing the kiss that frankly just rocked my entire world and we were still fully clothed. The kiss wasn’t full of lust. It was raw and real.
I used my fingertips to brush a piece of hair away from her face. Her eyes fluttered before she peeled back those gorgeous dark lashes. I could see her decision clear as day, the surrender shining back at me.
“Yeah?” I asked with hope.
Slowly, she reached up to wrap her arms around my neck before she nodded, then she crashed her mouth back to mine.
Gone was the soft and gentle kiss, and in its place was pure need.Fire.Her chest pressed against mine, her legs wrapping around my waist with urgency.
She felt like she belonged in my hands, her hot lips on mine. My hand slid up her spine before palming the back of her head, tilting her to the perfect angle to taste her sweet mouth.
She groaned into me. “Why do you kiss so good?” She pecked my lips. “Never mind. Don’t answer that.” She panted before her lips were back on mine.
I wanted nothing more than to devour her on this countertop, take whatever she would give me, but all of my thoughts came to a screeching halt when a fist pounded on her front door.
32
Trinity
“Shit,” I hissed as I wrenched myself away from Preston.
“You expecting company?” he asked, his hands squeezing my hips.
He looked unbothered by the fact we were mid-make-out, me shamelessly climbing him like a tree while someone was on the other side of that door.
What if it was my dad?
Oh, no.
“You gotta go.” I pressed my palms to his chest, and he easily dropped me to the counter, allowing me to jump down from the island.
“But we—” he started, but I interrupted.
“Wecan’t be seen together in this house,” I reminded him in a whisper. “Here.” I crossed the room and unlocked the patio door. “Go out the back.”
“You’re already sneaking me out the back entrance? Cold,” he joked, but obliged because I was in full freak-out mode.
He moved slowly, like he had all the time in the world. “Will you be at the party tomorrow?”
“Party?” I frowned, then squeezed my eyes shut. “Crap. That is tomorrow, isn’t it?”
