Page 32 of Until Ace

All I will ever have is me or the next jerk who comes along and succeeds in deceiving me long enough I give him a chance and he gets his claws into me.

“Okay,” I say, giving in and trying to hide my disappointment. There’s no need to fight him on this or beg him to give me a chance. It’s not like there’s any use, no matter how he makes me feel.

Before I have a chance to retreat into the safety of my home, his hands come up and frame my face. He steps closer and looks into my eyes.

“I was sure I could wait until after dinner, but I’m not that strong,” he murmurs cryptically, then he does something that tilts my world upside down.

He kisses me.

At first, his mouth brush mine in a fleeting touch. Then he traces the edge of my lower lip with the tip of his tongue. My need to get more of him is so strong I don’t even think.

I give him access by opening my mouth without a second thought, and that’s when he really kisses me.

His hands come up on either side of my neck, he tilts my head one way, and his goes the other. When his tongue slides inside my mouth, the taste of spearmint and Ace fills my senses. So much so, I lose my sense of what’s up or down.

I stand up on my toes and press my chest against his, and he groans into my mouth. One of his hands trails down my neck and side until he snakes it around my waist, pulling me more into his body, at the same time deepening the kiss even more. I whimper and fist the soft material of his shirt, holding on for dear life.

Just as suddenly as he started it, Ace breaks the kiss. “Fucking hell, baby.”

Hearing his hoarse words makes me smile.

He doesn’t miss it. “I like your smile, baby. I especially like it, because you’re wearing it knowing what that kiss did to me. I also know it did the same to you, since it’s glinting in your eyes. Fuck, I knew a kiss from you would be phenomenal, but this… I couldn’t even imagine.”

“You thought about kissing me?” I ask, stunned.

“Oh, I thought about more than just kissing you,” he corrects unapologetically. My mind sparks with image after image, wondering what else he thought about.

The smile that stretches his face is… carnal.

God.

How can a single smile drench my panties?

“Get your mind out of the gutter, baby,” Ace teases. But then he says in a gruff voice, “If you want to know, all you have to do is ask, Mandy.”

Dear God, this man is going to make me come by using only his words.

Seeing my reaction, he chuckles again. “Now, we can go and eat.”

* * *

“Breathe, Mandy.”

We’re in his car, and he’s driving. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I’m not scared that he’ll do something to me. I’m scared of everything he’ll do.

This date is only ten minutes in, and I can already feel myself slipping deeper and deeper into Ace Sterling.

I’ve never been nervous like this, not about a date. Not even with my previous boyfriends—the ones who were decent, at least, before they were scared off by my family.

But this is important.

I can’t deny Ace means something to me. Even now, at the very beginning.

Something tells me that, if I let it go the distance, Ace could become the most important person in my life.

And I want it.

I want him to like me.