Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“You should know,” his voice was rough, “you ruined kissing for me, too.”
“That can’t be true,” I whispered.
I’d mistaken his heat for anger, but it was something else. The corner of his mouth quirked. “You calling me a liar?”
I was dumbfounded by his revelation. Had his last year been filled with lackluster kisses that left him craving someone else? Did he kiss people and secretly wish they were me, like I did with him?
My brain couldn’t comprehend that.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached up to massage the back of his neck. “Fuck. I tried to forget it, but I remember every goddamn detail from that night, okay? I remember what you were wearing, and how you grabbed my shirt, and how you made that sexy-as-fuck moan when I put my tongue in your mouth.” His hand fell away as his gaze drilled into me. “I wish I didn’t remember, believe me. And I really wish I wasn’t sitting here right now, wondering if you’d taste the same if I kissed you again.”
I sucked in a sharp breath and thought drained from my mind. All that was left was an urgent clamoring for him to do it—and to do it right fucking now.
But he didn’t.
Preston sat disappointingly still in his seat and frowned.
“If I did that,” he said, “I’d be risking more than just my friendship with him. I could be blowing up our partnership and my company.”
“But you want to kiss me.” I said it like I could convince him.
He exhaled. “I want to do more than just fucking kiss you. I want to,” he struggled to find the right way to say it, “get to do all the things you want to do. To show you what you’ve been missing out on.”
“You can,” I said. “You could, like, teach me.”
His gaze ran away from mine, and he turned his head to stare out the windshield. The muscle running over his jaw flexed, and as he wiped a hand over his mouth, I got the strange feeling he’d only done it to stop himself from saying what he wanted to.
Finally, he spoke, and his tone was quiet. Filled with regret. “I shouldn’t.”
Except his posture was tight, and his body language screamed how uncomfortable he was. How badly he wanted to say yes to me.
“Just a few lessons.” I shifted, subtly leaning over the center console so I could be closer. “He doesn’t have to know about it.”
He peered at me, and the interior of the car was suddenly too small to contain the tension between us. Our intense stare was back, a string connecting us and pulling us together. There was a pressure valve inside me screaming toward release.
“Lying to your brother?” The leather of his seat squealed quietly as he moved, matching the way I’d leaned in, and his voice thickened with sin. “That’s bad.”
“Yeah?” I went breathless. “Well, maybe I’m a bad girl now.”
“Hmm.” His head dipped down so his lips were right at the shell of my ear. “We’ll see about that.”
SIX
Preston
Last time I’d kissed Sydney, she’d been unprepared, but this time she was ready. Even though I cupped her cheek, I didn’t need to guide her. She turned into my kiss, meeting me eagerly. And she let out the same moan as last time when my tongue invaded her mouth.
I was curious to see if her amazing kiss had been a fluke. A one-time-only, perfect storm that couldn’t be replicated. Or if it had only been good and I’d just built it up in my mind to become something spectacular.
Well . . . nope.
I was happy to discover it was just as good the second time around, if not better. At least now we didn’t have to worry about anyone wandering by and catching us. She matched my intensity and kissed me like she’d been waiting a whole damn year for this moment.
The atmosphere in the car began to shift the longer we kissed. It swirled with sex and heat, feeding into the way our mouths attacked each other. I was greedy and maybe too dominating, but the lust for her? It caught me off guard and I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
She didn’t seem to mind, though, or the way we were awkwardly leaning over in our seats, like our bodies needed to be closer to each other. I wanted the center console gone from between us. More space to maneuver and get my hands on her—
Colin’s warning was suddenly loud in my head.
Don’t touch my sister.
After everything that had happened with Cassidy, he’d been the one to fill the best friend spot she’d vacated. He’d helped me deal with the fallout. He’d been the one to know when to call me out on the times I was being a prick.
I’d been the center of attention with both my parents growing up, and it meant I could be selfish. I was trying hard these days to be better. More thoughtful, and caring, and someone who could think about others first.