Page 97 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

‘You’re here?’ She breaks off to talk to someone else. ‘I’m coming out now, two minutes. Don’t leave!’

‘I’m not leaving. Does anyone else need a ride?’

‘No, most people went when the Dollyoke finished. Kat and Mei already left, and Tara’s staying here.’ She lowers her voice to a whisper that somehow still manages to be very loud. ‘Luke’s coming over so they can have sex. Apparently Luke is great at sex.’

‘I’ll be sure to let him know,’ I say dryly.

I get out the truck and stand, leaning against the door, my arms folded across my chest as I wait for Lee to appear. When she does, it takes me a second to recognise her.

I didn’t see Lee before she went out, and part of me is glad about that because I don’t know how I would have sat calmly through dinner with this particular image in my brain.

Her legs are totally bare apart from the briefest excuse for a denim miniskirt and a pair of gold cowboy boots. They’ve been paired with a matching denim waistcoat, snug fitting with a dangerously low neckline and a row of buttons marching down the front. Her hair is down, a sexy tumble of snaky waves, and there’s glitter dusted on her cheeks. Instead of a coat she holds a pink cowboy hat in her hand.

I feel like I’m having an aneurysm.

‘Hey, pretty girl,’ I call before I can stop myself. ‘Where’s your coat?’

She spots me and her face lights up. She rushes over to me, grabbing my arm.

‘Nico!’ she whispers, and her eyes are sparkling. ‘I did a crime! A very small crime!’

I’m already undoing my coat and slinging it round her, trying not to touch her bare skin, but it’s hard… there’s a lot of it.

I swallow. ‘What do you mean a crime?’

She glances furtively around the car park, which is empty apart from the two of us. ‘We mayonnaised Tyler’s truck!’ she blurts. ‘He was out with some other girl even though he’s been sniffing around Kat again, and so we wrote on his truck with one of Darlene’s mayonnaise dispensers. Tara wrote “wanker”, but I made her change it to “banker” because that would be too much of a clue that the British girls were behind it! And everyone hates bankers!’

She looks so pleased with herself.

‘Excellent work, my little mastermind,’ I laugh, trying unsuccessfully to thread her arm through one of my sleeves.

She nods, biting her lower lip which is a deep rosy pink. ‘I did leave some money under his windscreen wiper,’ she confesses in a low voice. ‘So he could pay to have it cleaned off. But don’t tell the others.’

‘Your secret’s safe with me. Now, about your coat…’

‘I don’t have one,’ she says. ‘Kat said it would ruin the look. She was quite insistent that I wouldn’t feel the cold later.’ She glances around in surprise. ‘And she was right.’

Her eyes flicker to mine. ‘You called me pretty girl,’ she says. ‘You think I look pretty?’

She steps back, and my coat falls from her shoulders while she holds her arms out. I swallow again, and bend down to pick up my coat. This is a mistake as I’m treated to an up-close look at those legs, and I find I want to sink my teeth into her thigh.

‘You look very pretty,’ I say mechanically, and she doesn’t seem appeased.

‘It’s because of the clothes,’ she says, suddenly forlorn. ‘Because I don’t look like me.’

‘No, Daisy.’ I can’t stand the look on her face. ‘It’s not the clothes. You always look pretty.’

She lifts her eyes and focuses on me with a startling intensity. ‘Nico,’ she says, her voice suddenly serious. ‘I’m going to kiss you now. Not for pretend or practice.’ Her gaze drops to my mouth. ‘But because I want to.’

She starts towards me, and I’m frozen, my brain trying to catch up with what she just said.

I manage to hold up a hand, and she stops, right in front of me. ‘Lee,’ I croak.

‘Don’t you want to?’

‘Of course I want to,’ I grind out. ‘But—’

I don’t get any further because she drops her hat, reaches up and fists the front of my shirt, dragging my mouth down to hers.