Page 43 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

Goose bumps sprouted across her skin. The air charged between them as the underlying meaning of his words rained over her. They were flirting.

Reason said she should stop it. Attraction made her reply. “I bet you would.”

Cyril eased a little closer. “Maybe one day you’ll show me.”

She wanted to show him. Badly. She would have been on her way to showing him if she hadn’t squirted him with mustard. The mustard had been embarrassing, but it had saved her to an extent. Things would have been more awkward if they’d exchanged numbers and planned to meet up later only to later discover their parents were getting married. She should remember that. They both needed to remember that.

“I would...if our parents weren’t getting married.” She admitted to the only reason she held back from getting warm and gooey in this man’s strong arms.

The fire left his eyes, and he took a half step back. “Yeah...they are.”

“It would be weird for me to show you just how nice and warm I could be...wouldn’t it?”

A tense moment passed before he answered slowly. “But right now, our parents aren’t married.” He rubbed his chin. “It wouldn’t be weird, but it might be awkward later.”

Imani shrugged. “It has the potential to be awkward. We don’t know if it will be awkward. We may be surprisingly mature about the entire thing.”

He took another step closer to her. “Which means you should show me before they get married, right?”

She sucked in a breath as excitement exploded in her veins. “Maybe I should.”

sixteen

Her good sense had fled. Or maybe, she hadn’t wanted to kiss a man as much as she wanted to kiss Cyril right now. Either way, she was making a big mistake, and she was willing to live with the consequences.

She stood still, breathing shallow and body tight with anticipation as Cyril erased the small space between them. His hand slid around her waist slowly. Almost as if he too realized they were crossing a line that would be hard to come back from. The heat of his body seeped into hers, melting her bones and softening the last bits of her resistance. His eyes never looked away as he pulled her body against his.

His head lowered and finally his lips were on hers. First with a soft press before he pulled back. Imani sighed, his body relaxed and then he kissed her deeply. Their tongues slid across each other’s as the attraction that had first sparked between them ignited into flames. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she pulled him tighter against her. The hardness of his chest and the hardening length of his erection pressed into her belly, making her want more. To have every inch of his skin against hers while he kissed her just like this. Kissed her until she lost herself in his embrace and forgot everything else in the world.

She felt safe, comforted, precious in his arms. Something she hadn’t felt in any other man’s embrace. This was more than the desire she expected. This feeling was dangerous, because this feeling could cause her to overlook all warning signs and trust in the emotions and feelings Cyril stirred up in her. Emotions she didn’t trust or believe in herself.

She pulled back quickly. Her arms slid from around his neck until her hands pressed against his chest. His heart was a jackhammer beneath her palms.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. She would have expected him to sound surprised or maybe even a little frustrated that she’d ended the kiss so abruptly. Instead, concern filled his voice.

Her heart twisted. Emotion swelled inside her. This was too much. She wasn’t supposed to feel this much. This was supposed to be just desire.

“Imani?” he questioned.

She shook her head and stepped back. He let her go. “I’m good.”

“Was that weird?”

“No, it wasn’t.” It was one of the best kisses she’d ever had. She wanted to kiss him again. Wanted to do a lot more than kiss him. “But we can’t do it again. It’ll be weird if we keep this up.”

“We could always stop after they get married.”

The temptation of those words spoken in his rumbling voice made her sex clench. Not only that, it made her heart flip. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t fall for him. Sleeping with him was one thing, but catching feelings? Not an option. Their best bet was to stop this now. After one quick, delicious, amazing kiss.

She stepped back. He curled his fingers into a fist as if he was trying to stop himself from reaching for her.

“I should go,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”

The barely veiled desire in his voice made her heart race. “We’ll talk about the festival later.”

He nodded. “Later.”

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