Page 35 of Meant for You

I stared up at him and licked my lips. “What does that have to do with—”

“Kissing’s part of dating, right?”

“Yes, I guess…but—”

“Answer the question,” he said, soft and low.

My belly swooped again, and the fluttering grew more intense. “It was just him, really. The other dates I had didn’t get that far.”

“Did you like it?” he said, face dipping closer.

What the heck was he doing? “It was…nice.” Dammit, I sounded all breathless.

“Nice?”

I nodded.

He kept his hands planted against the wall, one beside my head and he dropped the other down by my waist and leaned in more. “Lesson one: how to kiss.”

Was he? He was. He was going to kiss me. “But that’s not what…you were just going to tell me stuff, not—”

“Can’t tell someone how to kiss, Eves. You have to do it.”

“I didn’t mean for us to actually…you know…for you to…”

“It’s just me. Telling you isn’t going to work. If you can’t kiss your best friend, then who can you kiss?” His nostrils flared. “How will you kiss some other guy?”

His logic was flawed. Extremely flawed, but, God, right then I kind of…I wanted to know what it was like to kiss Dane. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said with no real conviction.

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” he said.

Okay, if I was honest, I’d wanted to know what it was like to kiss him for a long time. I licked my lips and glanced around us. “What? Here? Right now?” I squeaked.

“Yes, here and now.” He was so close his breath brushed my lips. “Show me what you’ve got, Everly Williams.”

I’d asked for this, right? Well, kind of. I’d never mentioned actual kissing, or kissing at all. I’d remember if I’d added kissing into our deal. He was challenging me. Maybe hoping that it would freak me out so he could back out of our arrangement. Or put me off dating, because, yeah, Dane was still as overprotective of me as he ever was.

I straightened my spine. If he thought I’d back down, he was so wrong. “Okay.”

His nostrils flared again. “Okay?” he repeated, looking a little wild.

Ha! I’d shocked him. Called his bluff.

Dane didn’t move, just stood there, head dipped, so close, so very close, and waited. Daring me silently to do it. And, I was sure, still not believing I would.

Fine. I totally would. Heart hammering in my chest, I shuffled forward and, taking a deep breath, I leaned in, closing the space between us.

My head was tilted down and to the side, which meant my cheek lightly brushed his, his whiskered jaw scraping against my skin lightly. Goose bumps broke out all over me and I turned into him more, the corner of my mouth touching his.

My heart was beating like crazy.

But finally, gathering my courage, I dragged my mouth lightly over his.

He huffed out a breath against my lips.

Oh my God.

My lips were actually touching Dane’s lips.