Page 23 of The Neighborly Thing To Do
“So I was, what, basically fondling you?” I demand.
“No, actually fondling me would be fondling me. But that was… yeah. Everyone in the pub believed we were stupid in love newlyweds, that’s for sure.”
I close my eyes, feeling the flush take over my face. “So, everyone knows about that except for me?”
“Yeah. It’s, uh, a thing. Going through puberty around a bunch of supernatural creatures—we all figured it out, trust me.”
And here I am, the stupid human who doesn’t know. “Anything else you want to clue me in on?” I manage to ask.
He tilts his head, considering it. “So, assume whatever makes a creature look different than a human is going to be sensitive.I don’t know why, but it’s a safe assumption. My horns and wings. A vampire’s fangs. A harpy's wings. A selkie’s pelt. If a shifter can hold a partial shift… that. You get the picture.”
I could sink right through the floor in my mortification. Only disappearing forever would make this better. “I’m so sorry.” Fucking human upbringing. I’d have known that if I grew up here.
“Hey,” he murmurs, brushing my arm and waiting for me to look up before continuing. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t know. And anyway, it’s the kind of thing we want people to see and believe, right?”
Me borderline sexually harassing him isnotwhat we want people to see. “I think foreplay in the middle of the pub might be a step too far, even if it was consensual.”
“Getting hard in public isn’t ideal, yeah,” he nods, then snaps his mouth shut so fast that I doubt he meant to say that out loud.
Whether or not he meant it, now I can’t get the words out of my head.Hard. Did I actually make Finn hard? It’s probably a natural reaction, unavoidable because I touched hissensitivehorn. Nothing to do with me.
Do I want it to be because of me? I can’t stop thinking about it, of him lying back in bed—my bed, if we’re being specific—naked and fisting his cock. He’d be so hard, so large—
I forcibly shake the thought away. I not only fondled him without his consent in public last night, but now I’m picturing him naked when he’s trying to do me a favor.
“So instead of that, I was thinking—how would you feel if I kissed you?” he asks after a long, awkward moment of silence.
“Like, right now?” I hope my voice doesn’t come out as squeaky as it sounds in my head.
“I was thinking, more like when I drop you off at work. And when I pick you up. And sometimes when we’re out on a date. You know, times where it’d be what people expect to see,” he explains.
“Oh.” I think for a second, then nod. “Yeah, that makes sense.” Does he have any idea how long it’s been since I kissed anyone? Will he be able to tell when he kisses me? What if I’ve forgotten everything I ever knew and I suck at it?
“But,” he continues, clearly unaware of what’s going on in my brain, “Maybe we should kiss right now. You know, for practice. And so it feels natural. Wouldn’t want people to see us flinch or something, not if we’ve supposedly been kissing for years.”
Ofcoursehe would say that. And he’s not wrong, is the thing. If we’re going to do this, it’d be a shame to do it wrong and ruin everything. We need to be comfortable enough with each other to kiss and make other people believe it’s real.
And if I suck, I guess it’s better to find out now rather than later, when we have an audience.
Would he be willing to help me practice to get better? I shake the idea from my mind. It’s definitely inappropriate. I need to focus.
“Yeah, okay,” I agree. “You should kiss me, then,” I add, and wait with bated breath for him to do it.
Chapter 12
Finn
Iswallow, sliding my chair closer to her, watching carefully for any sign she’s unsure. Anything at all, and I’ll back off.
She watches me with those mahogany eyes, daring me to do it. When I hesitate a second too long, her eyes dart down and she murmurs, “You don’t have to. Maybe we’re a couple who doesn’t believe in PDA.”
Fuck that. If I was really married to Cassidy, I’d sure as shit believe in PDA. I’d want everyone in the entire world to know that this woman ismine. I’d follow her around like a lost dog, panting after her, waiting for her to deign to give me some attention.
That’s the kind of man Cassidy deserves. That’s the kind of man this town should see her with.
I cup her cheek, tilt her face, lean in those last few inches, and kiss her.
Like at our wedding, it starts as the barest brush of lips. A barely there kiss, more of a promise than anything else. But then she pushes forward, and my hand slides around to her hair, tilting her head back so I can deepen the kiss.
