Page 28 of The Arrangement

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Not much of an issue with the glossy pages that go along with the books you were looking at, but paperbacks would have absorbed it like nobody’s business. I hadn’t decided which ones I wanted yet, so…” He shrugged.

“That makes sense.”

“Maybe, but I could have used words instead of being an asshole.” I looked away, not sure what to say, and now viscerally aware of how close we were standing with no one else around. Oh, and he was still holding my hand. “Were you serious about wanting to read one of these?”

“Yes,” I responded hastily, snapping my attention back to him.

“Okay. I took the liberty of grabbing a couple that could be some good starters.” He suddenly barked a laugh. “Oh my God, don’t give me that face. You’re as bad as my brother. I’m not trying to cheat you, lowball you, or think you can’t handle it. This is no different than getting a sample of something before buying a whole freaking case.”

I grumbled, then said louder, “I suppose that’s fair.”

“Glad you agree.” His teasing tone helped me release more of the anxiety. Should have known it wouldn’t last. “Permission to ask a potentially offensive question?”

I looked at him for a few seconds and seriously considered saying no. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take today. Much as I didn’t like to admit it, Alex would call this a “high anxiety day” for me. I’d already had—what—three spirals today? And it was only two in the afternoon. But between JD’s earnest expression and my burning curiosity, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear, “Permission granted,” come out of my mouth.

He licked his lips, which was distracting as hell, especially given my current state. More than that, though, was henervous? “Marc, have… have you ever kissed a man?” he asked quietly, dropping his gaze to where he was still holding my dirt-covered hand palm up.

That was not what I’d been expecting, not that I’d knownwhatI was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t that. “No…” I replied cautiously, fearing another quagmire. “Why?”

He took a shaky breath that seemed so at odds with the picture of confidence he always presented and curled my fingers inward. “Because I’d really like to kiss you right now.” He slowly lifted my closed hand and brushed his lips along the back of my knuckles.

In nature documentaries, they always sped up the process of plants growing, but I could confirm that the actual petal bloomreally did look like an explosion, albeit still not quite that fast. Also, itfucking hurt.And I would know because that’s exactly what it felt like in my chest as JD cautiously raised his gaze to look at me.

Likely misreading my expression, he added, “It probably sounds corny as fuck, but I promise it’s really not all that different from kissing a woman. I just—”

“Green.” His stunning eyes widened, and I caught a flicker of uncertainty, so I repeated probably the only right thing I’d managed to say all day. “Green, Sergeant.”

Whatever noise was going on in the background ceased to exist as JD leaned forward. I was so hyper-fixated on what was coming, it actually startled me a little when his lips touched mine. Theneverythingceased to exist beyond where our lips met. I might have made a noise, but who could spare the brain cells for that when his firm mouth was moving against mine? His lips brushed over mine once, twice, then he was pulling away.

“See, not so different.” His half-smile bordered on shyness, and he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

I scrambled for enough functioning brain cells to form a coherent sentence, slammed those fuckers together, and fisted my free hand in his polo. “Like hell it isn’t.” I yanked him forward and smashed our mouths back together with a ferocity I didn’t know I possessed outside of a battlefield. But I knew one thing for damn sure, kissing JD had just skyrocketed to one of my favorite things to do.

A low whistle pierced my bubble, and I might have given a death glare to the sweet young woman it emanated from. “Sorry to interrupt, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart,” she placed a hand over said heart and added a smile for emphasis. “I thought you’d like to know that our event’ll be startin’ soon. I see you’ve got some books there. I could help check you out if you like.” My face clearly had a mind of its own today, because shegiggled. “Oh no, darlin’. I can ring up the books at the checkout counter for you.” She pointed back toward the bookstore proper and what I could now clearly see was the register, not to mention the damn exit.

Chapter 16

James

Iwas still in a daze as we finished cleaning up in the flower shop for the day. I’d kissed Marc and thenhe’dkissedme. And he’d growled. Twice. That was… holy fuck, that had been hot. And I swear to God, if that man did not stop darting looks at me, I was going to drag him upstairs like a fucking caveman.

Finally, the shop was as clean as it was getting for the day, and we headed upstairs. The sexual tension was so thick it was giving the obscene humidity outside a run for its money. Except when he opened the door to the apartment, and we stepped inside, something felt off. I was still trying to put my finger on it when Marc attacked me with a bruising kiss, pushing me into the wall.

Unsurprisingly, my brain went offline as I got lost in the massage of lips and dance of tongues. But that little voice that was adamant that something was off, the same one that had kept me and countless others safe overseas, wouldn’t be so easily dismissed. At last, whatever processing was going on inthe background reached a conclusion, and it might as well have dumped ice-cold water over me. He was trying too hard.

“Marc.” My first attempt at his name was more muffled consonants than an actual name, so I tried again, this time physically putting distance between us. “Marc,” I said more firmly. The look in his eyes absolutely devastated me. Worry, concern, quickly receding lust, sadness, and, fuck, fear. Why was he afraid? What was he afraid of?

He took a half-step back, wrapping his arms around himself, and looked away. Marc was neither fragile nor delicate, but clearly something more was going on. “I’m sorry. I… I’m not,” he paused, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowed thickly, “I’m not very good at this sort of thing.” A fierce pink stained his cheeks, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. That explained a little. Not everything. But a little.

“And you don’t have to be, baby boy.” I’d behaved myself before by only ever reaching for his arms, but with that sad look in his eyes, I couldn’t help stepping closer and sliding a hand around his waist. As he looked up at me, I gave in to another impulse I’d been denying. I brushed the hair back from his face. Even with a day’s worth of sweat, dust, and debris in it, his hair felt every bit as amazing as I believed it would sliding through my fingers. “It’s been an emotionally turbulent day for both of us. What do you say we get cleaned up, I order some of that awesome Ravenite pizza, and we have a movie night?”

“I think we still have some beer.”

“See? Perfect. It’s a plan.”

He squinted and tilted his head. “So, like Netflix and chill?”