Page 36 of Wedding or Not

It’s happening.

It’s definitely happening.

The buzz in my heart and my head overwhelms me until my vision blurs slightly. “Can you what?”

“Can I… This.” He tilts his head down far enough to press his lips against mine. Gentle. Careful. Just a light brush of his mouth on mine.

It’s way too light a kiss to trigger the intensity of my reaction. Pleasure and need and excitement surge through me. I reach up to grip his head and pull it back down toward mine so I can kiss him again.

Kiss him even deeper.

He makes a throaty sound as he slides a hand around the back of my head, using it to cushion my skull as he eases me back against the side of the SUV. The extra support allows us to really go at it, kissing each other for all we’re worth.

Soon his tongue is in my mouth, and my hand is tucked beneath his jacket, stroking his back through his shirt. One of his hands still holds my head, but the other has slid down to my butt, tracing over the curve there and down toward my thigh.

I’m so completely into the kiss, eager in a way I never believed I could be, that I lift one of my legs up to wind around the back of his thighs. My skirt hikes up, but I don’t care. I need to feel him everywhere, including against my pulsing groin.

Wes is turned on too. I can feel it from the shift of our positions. There’s a hard bulge at the front of his pants, and the ache inside me desperately needs to grind against it.

“Ella.” Wes’s voice is deliciously husky as he ducks his head to trail kisses down the side of my neck. “Damn, Ella. I’m not dreaming this, am I?”

“No.” I’m so into the embrace I’m clutching at his thick hair, trying to hold his head down to feel more of him. “Definitely not dreaming.”

“Do you—” He groans as I grind against him more insistently. “Do you⁠—”

I’m not sure what he’s trying to get said, but I know I want to hear it. But his second attempt is interrupted when there’s a sudden flash of light from nearby. Then another.

It startles me so much I turn to look.

Then I realize what it is.

The flash from a phone camera.

I make a gurgling sound and try to pull away from Wes, but I’m trapped against the SUV.

But Wes realizes it too. He lets go of me and lurches back, staring blankly at the woman snapping photos of us.

Then I see she’s not alone. There are two other people positioned at various spots in the garage, all of them filming us kiss.

“What the hell?” Wes demands in outrage, taking a few steps toward the closest woman. “Get out of here!”

The woman sounds like she’s laughing as she hurries away, and the young guy and the girl farther back make a quick departure as well.

Wes looks like he’s about to chase after them, like he did a few weeks ago near the cottages, so I grab the back of his jacket to hold him in place.

With a grumble, he stops and turns back toward me. “I can’t believe these people.”

“Well, I guess if we really wanted a private moment, we should have done it in private.”

His brows are lowered as he peers at me. “Aren’t you annoyed too?”

“Yes. I’m definitely annoyed. But we set ourselves up for this. We can’t be surprised when people take advantage of it.”

He sighs, a scowl still on his face. “I guess. But it really put a damper on what was getting good.”

“Yeah. It did.”

We start home after that, making a quick stop to go to the bathroom and grab a snack first.