Page 142 of The Design of Goodbye
“A baker never tells his secrets.”
“Oh, you’re a baker now?” I rolled my eyes, then pressed the brownie to his lips. “Have some.”
He did. “Amazing.” He set the brownie down. “But your lips taste better.”
He kissed me. He tasted like pumpkin spice, brownie, and boy. He was intoxicating. I pushed him away, overcome withhim.
“Wait.” I was already breathless. “Remember when you confessed my lips tasted better than cinnamon rolls?”
He grinned mischievously. “Did you like my last truth?”
“No,” I said. “It was ridiculous.”
“It was clever.”
“Why was there a page ripped out?” I wondered aloud. “It wasn’t like that when I gave it to you.” He leaned down and kissed my shoulder, then my chest. My neck. “What are you doing?” My voice trembled like my body.
“Kissing you.”
He kissed behind my ear, and my eyes fluttered closed. I ran my hands roughly through his hair. “Tell me about the ripped page.” Kisses and more kisses and, “Tell me.”
He stopped kissing me long enough to whisper, his warm breath ghosting against my skin, “I wrote down a truth I was too scared to admit.”
What could he be more scared to admit than what I’d found out last week? The last few months?
“Will I ever get to read it?”
“I”—he kissed my collarbone—“don’t”—my shoulder—“know.” My neck.
“How can you not know?” My chest. My next words came out in a rush of air. “Tell me.”
His kisses stopped. “Maybe you’ll find out. Maybe you won’t.”
“I don’t like maybes.”
“I know.” His gaze flickered to my lips. “Then, how about this? I’mdefinitelygoing to kiss you again.”
“Weren’t we going to watch a Christmas movie?”
“We can watch it tomorrow.”
He was very convincing.
“It’s a date.” I grinned.
“Is it okay if I kiss you now?”
“I’m definitely okay with that.”
And he kissed me. Still tasting of brownie. Still intoxicating.
chapter forty-eight
Liam didn’t show up for our Christmas movie date. I was disappointed but figured something had come up. It’d happened before. I kept my window open for him in case I didn’t hear him knock. I always had, but it made me feel better.
He never came.
chapter forty-nine
