Page 37 of No One But You
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Her teeth dragged over her red lower lip.“I’ve admired you for a long time, but I thought you wouldn’t look twice at someone like me.”
I frowned.“Like you?”
Her mouth twisted.“Frivolous.”
Was that really how she saw herself?
“You’re not frivolous,” I said firmly and rubbed the back of my neck.“I, uh, have had feelings for you for a while, but I figured I was too boring for someone as vivacious as you.”
Her eyes widened minutely, then their corners crinkled with mirth.“Are you saying we’ve both had crushes but avoided doing anything about it and that if one of us had been braver, we could have been together all this time?”
Put like that, it sounded ridiculous.But also, true.
I laughed.“I suppose so.”
She rolled her eyes.“We’re too silly to make adult decisions.Please don’t ever tell Summer we had this conversation, or I’ll never live it down.”
“My lips are sealed,” I promised.
“But we know now, right?So we can do something about it.”
With a grin, I kissed her.This time, it didn’t remain chaste.Her tongue flicked along the seam of my mouth, and I opened and met it stroke for stroke.
Her grip tightened on my shirt, and she tugged me against her, all lean limbs and soft curves.I tried to keep my touch gentle, determined not to hurt her, but when she practically plastered herself to me, it was difficult to hold back.
I did, though.My touches remained light, and I gave my full focus to the kiss.She tasted faintly of green tea, and she whimpered into my mouth, seeking more.
“Bailey,” I murmured, scarcely daring to believe this was real.“I—”
The doorbell rang, cutting me off.
I checked the time and my heart fell.“Shit, I have an appointment.”
TWENTY-ONE
Reason #13 why Max Braddock is husband material:
He’s supportive even when he disagrees with me.
BAILEY
While Max dealt with his patient, I found a paper and pen and started a brainstorm of the reasons why I should agree to Nate’s plan and another brainstorm of the reasons why I shouldn’t.
On the should side, I covered things like the fact that catching the bad guys would mean I could get back to my own life without worrying about whether someone might attack me the next time I went anywhere on my own.
I also included the added safety factor that the police represented.I wasn’t naive enough to believe they were foolproof, but it was certainly something to take into consideration.
Ugh.I scowled at the brainstorm, irritated.
I preferred to make decisions based on vibes and my mood, but this was too important for me to act impulsively, and that meant trying to work through things like a responsible, mature adult.
On the shouldn’t side, I noted that Max wouldn’t be happy with me and underlined it because that was kind of a big deal when we’d only just admitted our feelings for each other.
There was also the whole issue of risking life and limb.If something went sideways, I could end up hurt just as badly as last time, if not worse.
But then, if we didn’t do it, and they remained free, that might happen at some point anyway.
