Page 132 of Embracing the Beat
“I-I love it. Thank you.” Her eyes sparkle as unshed tears line her lashes.
“Good tears or bad tears?”
“Good,” she says, sniffling. “So good. Would you put it on me?”
I nod and take the box, carefully lifting the necklace out and shifting until I’m behind her. She pulls her hair up and out of my way, exposing her long, slender neck, to give me access. Closing the clasp on the necklace, I run my hands along the chain and resist the urge to press my lips against the back of her neck.
“Thank you.” Her eyes meet mine over her shoulder, and time stops, a heartbeat stretching to two, then four, and my attention zeroing in on her lips. Her tongue peeks out to moisten them, and I want to groan.
“You said that already,” I tell her.
“Well, I meant it.”
“You’re welcome.”
My breathing slows as I lean closer, watching her eyelashes flutter shut.
“Ms. King?” Cathy, the nurse, scrapes back the curtain. “The doctor is reviewing your ultrasound now. So long as nothing shows up there, he’ll be by to discharge you in the next hour or so.”
“Great, thank you, Cathy,” Michaela says with a smile.
The curtain shuts again, and I want to pick up where we left off, close the distance, taste her again. But I hold back. We rushed into a relationship so fast before, and I lost them both. I’m not willing to risk her or our child again.
