Page 54 of Then You Happened
When he retreats another step, I want to reach out and pull him back toward me, but better sense stops me before I make an ass out of myself.
It was just a kiss.
But the smile curling up his mouth tells me he wanted it as much as I did.
Of course he did. He’s the one who initiated it.
I giggle, which sounds stupid and causes a blush to heat my cheeks. I know I look like an idiot, but he just kissed me—like kissed me, kissed me, and I don’t even know what to do next because it’s been so long since anyone made me feel this way.
He takes another step back. “I’m gonna go now, Knox.”
No. Stay.
“My name is Tate.” I can’t remember if he’s ever called me it, and my commenting on it is the only sliver of sanity I can seem to grasp on to.
“I know what your name is.”
“Then why do you always call me Knox?”
It’s his breath that stutters this time. “Because it reminds me that you’re another man’s.”
If his voice and eyes and presence and that kiss weren’t so mesmerizing, so all consuming in this darkened foyer that is clouded with everything about him, I might laugh. I might roll my eyes and shake my head.
But he’s here, and I can’t think of anything other than how much I want him to be here.
“I don’t belong to anyone, Jack.” My voice is a ghost of a resolute sound woven between the pounding of my pulse in my ears.
When his eyebrows lift and his smile widens, there is a boyish quality I never would have expected etched in the lines of his masculine face.
“Next time, I’ll remember that.”
“Will there be a next time?” I ask before I can bite it back, and I end up almost as embarrassed by the hope in my tone as I am desperate for him to kiss me again.
A shake of his head. Another step back. “I was wrong.”
“About what?”
I hate that he’s reaching for my doorknob.
“That wasn’t nearly enough to get you out of my system.”
My cheeks hurt from smiling as he opens the door, revealing the moonlit sky behind him.
“Then why are you leaving?” I ask as I twist my fingers together and shift on my feet to abate the sweet burn between the apex of my thighs.
“Because it’s your move, Knox. When we sleep together, it isn’t going to be a mistake. That’s one word I never want to hear pass over your lips when it comes to me. I will never be a mistake . . . but right now, you aren’t sure if it would be or not. I want you to be sure.”
“Oh.”
His lopsided smirk pulls higher on one side. His dimple melts parts of me that are already heated enough.
“Your move,” he murmurs as his eyes do a slow sweep down the length of my body.
I nod, afraid to speak because my body is desperate for his touch and every part of me wants harder than I have in as long as I can remember, but he’s right.
“’Night, Jack.”
“’Night, Knox.”
