Page 30 of The Heiress Bride
“Kissing your best friend.”
He’s still staring at my lips and, fuck me, but that’s going to haunt my dreams. My chest puffs up on a deep inhale, and my heart trips over itself.
“Liked that, did you?” I tease.
A broad shoulder lifts in an elegant shrug. “I guess.”
I tip my head back against the door and laugh.Man, I missed this. The ease between us. The camaraderie that we found from the very beginning. Somehow, this is the same but better. This is the Alex I’ve always known, but freer. No holding back.
“Maybe we should do it again, just to be sure,” he says, voice dark, dripping with seduction.
My chin drops as my cock twitches against my thigh. Damn, I’m going to need a cold shower if we keep this up. Hell, I might need two. It’s not every day the object of decades of desire kisses the hell out of you.
“Alex—”
He plants his free hand on the door next to my hip. Is this what Katherine feels like when I box her in? Like a bunny being stared down by a wolf?
My eyelids drift closed as he ducks his head.
“Gabe—” Katherine’s voice echoes down the hall, and Alex tenses.
So much happens inside me in a split second.
My bubble of lust pops, and ice speeds through my veins as I prepare for him to rip himself away. Inside my ribs, my heart aches because it’s going to fucking hurt, watching him pull back, lift his head, turn around, and act like we weren’t finally finding our way into each other’s arms.
Stealing myself, I open my eyes.
10
ALEX
Gabe blinks up at me, and I see the fear in his eyes. He expects me to pull away.
“Oh, sorry,” Katherine says, and I hear her footsteps backpedal, fading.
“Katie Bird,” I call over my shoulder. Then I return my attention to my best friend, holding his gaze.
His heart flutters beneath my palm, like a scared bunny.
He should know me better than this. But this is new for both of us, so I forgive him.
I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not going to jerk away and deny what’s between us.
Katherine will handle our news like the graceful queen she is. It’s Kingston I worry about.
Will he see me as a threat? Someone moving inon his territory? Stealing his man like I almost stole his girl?
We’ll see, I guess, because there’s no turning back now.
Unlike Gabe, my pulse is rock steady. I’m more at ease than I have been in a long time.
Her footsteps pad closer, and I drop my hand from his throat and pivot to let her into the circle. She approaches slowly, stopping just out of arm’s reach while we both stare down at her.
She looks up at us with glittering eyes.
So she knew.
Of course, she knew. My girl is more perceptive than most. She so easily saw Gabe’s feelings, the things he kept locked down so he didn’t bother me.
