Page 60 of Sugar & Ink
She turned toward me and motioned vaguely at herself. “A girl like me.” She smiled like it was obvious.
And suddenly I was pissed at every asshole who’d ever made her think she was anything less than gorgeous.
I stepped closer. “Says who?”
She laughed. “The mirror. You’d have to be blind to not see what I am, Rome.”
I stared at her. Really stared.
Red shirt hugging her curves. Jeans molded to her hips. Bright eyes. Soft cheeks.
The woman was sexy as hell.
“Sexy as hell?” I offered.
She burst out laughing. “You might want to check into getting glasses, handsome.”
I shook my head. “I see just fine.”
“You absolutely do not.”
I stepped closer again. Close enough that she tipped her head back to look at me. “I don’t know your ex.”
Her smile faded.
“But I know he fumbled you big time.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure my ex would tell you he upgraded a ton.”
The words hit me like a punch. Not because I believed them, but because she did. I hated that some idiot cheated on her and left behind enough damage that she still thought another woman was somehow better.
Nope, not having it.
Josie turned toward the front door, pulled out her keys, and unlocked it. She looked back at me. “Thanks for tonight.” Like she was about to walk away. Like she was going to say something like see you tomorrow and head inside carrying all that bullshit she’d just said with her.
Absolutely not.
I grabbed her arm gently, my fingers wrapping around the soft fabric of her sleeve, and turned her toward me. Her eyes went wide, darkening in the dim light, and I didn’t give her a chance to hesitate. I pulled her against me, her body fitting flush against mine like she was made to be there.
Then I kissed her. I felt the moment she decided not to push me away, the tension draining from her shoulders as she leaned in instead of pulling back.
I slowed, tasting her, learning the shape of her mouth against mine. She was warm and sweet and tentative at first, then eager, then desperate.
Josie gasped, the sound vibrating against my lips, and I swallowed it whole. Then she melted.
Every damn time. It didn’t matter how many times I kissed her; she always went pliant in my arms, always surrendered to it like this was the first time, and she was still shocked by how good it felt.
I framed her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing along her jaw, feeling her pulse hammering beneath my palms. Her skin was fever-hot, and her breath came in shallow bursts that I chased with my mouth.
I kissed her until she stopped thinking. I felt it happen, the moment her mind went quiet, and she was only sensation, only need, only the slide of my tongue against hers and the pressure of my body holding her up.
Until I stopped thinking, too, and there was only small desperate sounds she made when I angled her head and went deeper.
All that existed was her mouth against mine and the soft, broken sound she made when I pulled her closer,
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing harder, our foreheads touching, her lips swollen and slick and impossibly tempting. I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted to never stop.
Josie’s eyes were wide.
