Page 39 of Lick
“David?”
“Mm?”
I leaned forward to press my lips to his, wanting to kiss him, needing to. He pulled back again. My hopes dived. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
“Ev. What are you doing?”
“Kissing you?”
He said nothing. Jaw rigid, he looked away.
“You’re allowed to kiss me and cuddle me and buy me insanely priced lingerie and I can’t kiss you back?” My hands slid down to his and he held them. At least he wasn’t rejecting me totally.
“Why do you wanna kiss me?” he asked, his voice stern.
I studied our entwined fingers for a moment, getting my thoughts in order. “David, I’m probably not ever going to remember everything about that night in Vegas. But I thought we could maybe make some new good memories this weekend. Something we can both share.”
“Just this weekend?”
My heart filled my throat. “No. I don’t know. It just… it feels like there’s meant to be more between us.”
“More than friends?” He watched me, eyes intent.
“Yes. I like you. You’re kind and sweet and beautiful and you’re easy to talk to. When we’re not always arguing about Vegas. I feel like…”
“What?”
“Like this weekend is a second chance. I don’t want to just let it slip by. I think I’d regret that for a long time.”
He nodded, cocked his head. “So what was your plan? Just kiss me and see what happened?”
“My plan?”
“I know about you and your plans. You told me all about how anal you are.”
“I told you that?” I was an idiot.
“Yeah. You did. You especially told me about the big plan.” He stared down at me, eyes intense. “You know… finish school then spend three to five years establishing yourself at midrange firm before moving up the ranks somewhere more prestigious and starting your own small consultancy business by thirty-five. Then there’d maybe time to get a relationship and those pesky 2.4 kids out of the way.”
My throat was suddenly a dry, barren place. “I was really chatty that night.”
“Mm. But what was interesting was the way you didn’t talk about that plan like it was a good thing. You talked about it like it was a cage and you were rattling the bars.”
I had nothing.
“So, come on,” he said softly, taunting me. “What’s the plan here, Ev? How were you going to convince me?”
“Oh. Well, I was um… I was going to seduce you, I guess. And see what happened. Yeah…”
“How? By complaining about me buying you stuff?”
“No. That was just an added bonus. You’re welcome.”
He licked his lips, but I saw the smile. “Right. Come on, then, show me your moves.”
“My moves?”
“Your seduction techniques. Come on, time’s a-wasting.” I hesitated and he clicked his tongue, impatient. “I’m only wearing a towel, baby. How hard can this be?”
