Page 51 of The Kiss Connection

“I don’t.” My gaze doesn’t waver. She inhales sharply, like she wants to look away but can’t.

“You never get afraid?” she whispers as she crawls across the elevator floor and sits directly in front of me. She’s goading me.

Two can play at that game.

I grab her hips, pulling her closer to sit between my legs. I wrap my legs around her frame, keeping her trapped against me.

Her cheeks blush and her gaze darkens. Each breath is more pronounced and thicker as her eyelids droop. She stares at my mouth, and I can’t help but study those perfect ruby lips.

I want to kiss her, desperately.

She leans in slightly, and my forehead rests against hers. Her breath is soft and warm against my lips.

My hands remain firm on her hips, the pads of my fingers grazing a hint of skin as the hem of her shirt inches up, and she trembles. “Nervous?” I whisper as her eyelids flutter closed.

“No.”

Heat pumps into the elevator so I doubt she’s cold, but she is still wearing that incredibly sexy short skirt. Her bare legs are wrapped around my hips, and she fists my shirt in her hand. “I want you to apologize to me.”

I lean back slightly, taken aback by her request.

“What?”

“You stood me up. I demand an apology.”

“Demand all you want, Pint Size, you’re not getting it.”

“Pint Size,” she repeats, a smile on her face. “Are you calling me that because the tastiest ice creams come in my size?”

“How long have you been waiting to use that line?” I chuckle, and she stands, taking a step back.

The elevator jars, and she squeals, not from delight but surprise.

I grab my phone, tucking it into my pants pocket as I stand. “Don’t look so excited to get away from me,” I tease. Bending down, I reach for my jacket on the floor.

“I’m elated,” she beams, and her grin widens even farther. She’s definitely mocking me.

We finally reach our floor and the doors open. She hightails it out of the elevator I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t want to be stuck with me another moment longer than necessary or if she really is that afraid of elevators.

It could also be because we nearly kissed.

My mind is reeling from touching her, her hand fisting my shirt. It had taken everything inside of me not to taste her lips. I haven’t felt that level of chemistry in … ever.

I push all of it aside, the moment over. That’s all it was, a moment that never happened.

An almost.

I walk Juniper to her door, even though she’s three steps ahead of me and I have to walk past my apartment. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do after a date. But I’m not sure what we did qualifies as a date … not a real date anyhow.

Even so, I still had a nice time, surprisingly.

And we both survived and didn’t murder each other—in the elevator or at the restaurant.

“Thanks for dinner,” she says, her keys in her hand. “That was … interesting.”

“Interesting?” I’m a bit taken aback by her word choice. Is she referencing the night out or the elevator trapped fiasco? She can’t fault me for the lights going out.

“Fine, it wasn’t too terrible,” she relents. “I mean, I honestly thought you were going to ditch me while you were in the bathroom.”