Page 145 of Seasons of Love
Our lips part for a split second. My brain hasn’t even caught up before Ellis is there again.
Ellis Bradford is kissing me. I’m not dreaming. His lips are touching mine.
This is one of those moments that I know I will never remember exactly how it happened because it’s over so soon.
I can smell the coffee on his breath when he pulls away, resting his forehead against mine.
At some point, I must have closed my eyes because when I open them, I’m staring at Ellis’s dark-blue ones.
“Why did you do that?” I ask. My voice is trembling and my body is tense. Trying to hold in what I really want to do.
There’s a layer of vulnerability in the way he’s looking at me. Like he doesn’t quite believe he did what he just did.
That makes two of us.
“It seemed like a good way to shut you up.” He smiles. “Milo, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel the way you do. Honestly, I paid the fee because I realized the deadline was coming up soon, and I didn’t want you to miss it. I should have asked you first.”
“You should.”
He runs a finger over my cheek. “I don’t see you as a charity case at all. And once again, I know I should have consulted you, but I’ve done some research. You asked for too little, and at the time, I didn’t know better, so I agreed. I’m simply paying you what you deserve to be paid. Your exam fees can come out of your pay if you want.”
His gaze moves away from mine, but his hand is still on my face. We’re still lying beside each other.
“I…um…probably shouldn’t have kissed you either. I’m sorry for that.”
The heat spreading through my body, threatening to turn my veins into lava, suddenly becomes ice cold.
“Why?”
“Because I want us to be friends. Because we have a working relationship. Because I’m so much older than you.”
Wait…what?
My quick thinking gives me an advantage over Ellis, so I roll him onto his back and straddle him.
I keep my hands on either side of his head because if I don’t, I might start undressing him.
“What are…you doing?” His voice is thick with want, and now I can see it.
I slide down on him so our faces are closer together. There’s no way what I feel against my thigh isn’t his erection.
“Those are bullshit reasons, Ellis.”
He swallows and looks at my lips.
“Tell me one thing. Did you want to kiss me?”
He nods.
“For how long?”
He closes his eyes like he’s in pain. When he opens them, there’s nothing but resolution. “Since the first time you said my name out loud.”
“When we met at the store?” I ask.
“No. When you called me Ellis.”
I run my nose over his. My open mouth catches his lip, and the sexiest, breathiest moan I’ve ever heard fills me with the confidence I need to know this is okay.
