Page 51 of The Paradise Problem

Bouncing excitedly, Charlie waves to where we stand in the back, and the entire room turns to face us, seventy-five bleached white grins forming a spotlight. I am sure even without the benefit of a mirror in front of us that both West and I look like we have just emerged from a cave to bright sun. “We are so happy to have them with us!” Charlie cries. “Congratulations, you two!”

The clinking starts up again, but this time, I realize we’re the ones who are meant to be kissing.

“What do we do?” I say through my clenched-teeth smile.

“I think,” he says back through his own tight grin, “that we kiss.”

My jaw is cramping. I’m fake-smiling so hard. “Okay, great!”

“Yeah?” he asks, and his own smile is now straightening, his expression turning to determined focus. A big hand comes up, cupping my jaw, and I manage to get out a breathy “yeah” as my knees turn to jelly. His eyes drop to my mouth, and I hold my breath as he leans in.

I realize, just before we touch, that he’s about to erase everything I know about the act of kissing.

The first contact is just a brush of his lips over mine, the briefest sweep. I’m going to be devastated if that’s all I get, but then I hear the quietest moan escape his throat as he leans in again, pressing his soft, strong mouth to mine and taking my top lip between his, sucking gently before he turns his attention to my bottom one. With a smile forming against my kiss, West tilts his head and takes me with a heat I could not have predicted but which makes me feel like I’m falling backward into clouds.

Or maybe that’s the way he’s cupping the back of my head in one hand, holding me around my waist in the other, and dipping me so low I’m nearly on the floor.

The room is quiet and then erupts in cheers as West smoothly brings me back up in what has to be the sexiest move any man has ever pulled off. I feel the ground shake beneath me, but it isn’t the noise in the room. It’s the realization that whatever I thought kissing was before was a poor, diluted impostor to that.

“West Weston,” I say, resting my hands on his chest. “Who knew you had it in you?”

He smiles knowingly down at me. “I’m pretty sure you did.”

Fifteen

LIAM

The end of the kiss isn’t a passive closing off, an easy pulling away. It’s forced, it’s purposeful, and with the warmth of her lips on mine, it’s nearly impossible. But with all eyes still on us, I lift Anna up, making sure she’s steady on her feet, and resist the urge to go back for more.

The attendees murmur their approval, quiet calls of “adorable” and “romantic” and “dazzling” floating around us—as well as one shouted “That was hot as shit!,” thank you Blaire—but Anna and I just stare at each other in mute shock. I realize I need to appear to have done this a million times, not just this once, so I try to pull my features together even though the sensation of her full, pillow-soft lips against mine still feels like an earthquake rolling through me.

Blinking away, I focus on her shoulder, and on the strap that has slipped an inch to the side, revealing a tan line from her bikini today. I reach up, stroking the line with my thumb. I want to suck her there, bite it. I want to leave a mark.

She reaches up, touching her lips, speaking behind them. “You’re good at that.”

“At what?” I ask, distracted.

“Fake-kissing.”

I hum. Nothing about that felt fake.

“Wonder how you kiss when it’s real,” she whispers.

I’m about to open my mouth and suggest she follow me outside to find out, when a man approaches.

“Anna?”

She pauses, searching his face. After a couple seconds, recognition lights her features. “Holy sh—Jamie?”

“Yes, my God, it’s so crazy to see you here!” They hug easily and pull away, both smiling.

“No kidding! I’m—” She cuts off, looking around, and her startled eyes meet mine. “West, this is my—well, okay, a little awkward—” They both laugh, sharing some inside joke I don’t follow until she says, “My ex.”

My body temperature plummets. “Ex. Wow.”

“Jamie, please meet my husband, Liam Weston.”

We shake hands, smiling, but it’s tense. With the way she looks tonight and even if he saw that kiss just now, I’m sure he’s thinking about all the times he made love to her. And now I’m thinking of all the times I haven’t.

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