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“Okay, not that one,” he says. “How about, your hand looks a little empty. Can I fill it with mine?”
I make a gagging noise. “Next.”
His eyes flash toward mine, and before I can register his movements, he has me around the waist, and I yelp as he lifts me up to sit at the top of the fence. I cling to the post, but he steadies me, one arm around my back, the other resting on my thigh.
“How about this one, then,” he begins, his features softening. “I’ve spent my entire life trying to find someone I could fall head over heels in love with. The minute you walked into my life again, I knew that was you. You are the woman I’ve been waiting for, Juliet, and now that I’ve found you, I ain’t letting go.”
My head is spinning. The only thing I can focus on are his lips.
“Would that line have worked better?” he asks.
“Oh, yeah.”
He leans forward, brushing his nose against mine, intentionally keeping our lips apart. “Now you’ve got to try a line on me.”
I don’t know if I can even talk, let alone come up with a clever quip. Instead, I lean slightly back so our eyes meet, then I remove his hat and place it on me. It teeters back on my head because it’s too large, but it’s warm against my cold head.
I keep one hand on the fence but allow the other to reach into his hair, and I run my fingers through his locks. His eyes close, and he draws steadying breaths.
“How about,” I begin, repeating his words from before, “kiss me, cowboy.”
His lips curve, and he nods. “You got it.”
Finally, he takes my lips with his.
I’ve waited too long for this, so I drink him in. We move as one, lips, breaths, heartbeats, as heat explodes between us, our mouths moving more swiftly as restrained passion pours forth from Archer. His hands slide up and down my back and sides, though never past propriety—something I’ve come to expect from him.
It’s different, kissing him at eye-level. Before, I had to stand on the tips of my toes. Now, I wrap my arms around his shoulders with ease and lean into him.
I’ve never felt emotional when kissing someone, but the overwhelming love I have for him and receive from him is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I want to feel it forever. I want to live in this moment forever.
Because now, more than ever, there’s no going back to the life I had before Archer Kade became my everything.
Archer
Juliet kissing me, wearing my hat, calling me cowboy...It has me all sorts of riled up, but I maintain control, even though I want to lose it all with her.
This kiss is different from the first. Still just as passionate, but without the uncertainty we began with—not knowing where the other was in our relationship. Now I know Juliet is as invested as I am.
I hold her steady on the fence post, using my body anchored against the fence to balance her.
For a moment, I hold back, anxious to see what she’ll do. I don’t have to wait for long before she takes the reins, directing the kiss in her own feminine way. Her fingers are in my hair again, and the smell of her fruity scent swirls around my senses and muddles my thoughts, leaving only two—how did I ever exist without this woman, and how can I ever be without her again?
The thought of being away from her is enough to send me into a near panic, so much so that I need to be closer to her to settle my heart.
I wrap my arms around her, holding her against me as I pull her down from the fence mid-kiss. My hat gets knocked to the ground, but it only allows me to lean in deeper.
She gives in at once, and our mouths move in sync, our bodies together as if both of us are desperate to never part again.
By the time we break for air, we’re both breathless, so I take a minute to kiss the smooth side of her lips, her temple, her jawline, before taking her mouth again.
Her soft breaths brush against my cheek, and the feel of her figure in my arms is enough to undue me.
I don’t know how much time has passed before we finally break.
Juliet pulls back first, her eyes partially closed, her words airy. “We need to check the time.”
“Nah,” I say, kissing her again. “It doesn’t matter.”
