Page 50 of Forget Me Not

Apprehension fills her face as the first song ends and the second begins. It’s one of those new age songs. Bluegrass filled with sadness and longing, but I don’t release her.

We haven’t spoken since this afternoon when we argued, and she’s become an itch I can’t scratch. The need to be near her, smell her, feel her is too strong to ignore anymore.

“You don’t have to dance with me if you don’t want to, Reid.”

I don’t reply, tugging her closer until her front is pressed against mine and moving her around the other couples. I can’t ignore the press of her body against me any more than she can, as evidenced by the way her breathing grows shallower and the hazy look in her eyes.

I can feel people watching us. I know what Manto said, but right now, I don’t fucking care. Not when I’ve got Nova in my arms and, at least for now, I don’t have to pretend I don’t give a shit. Anyone can see that ship has long-fucking-sailed.

Nova smiles slightly, something sparking in those eyes that sets something unsettling in my core.

She likes this. Tell me why I fucking love it.

It’s not that I don’t know how to dance. I just don’t like to. Too much expectation. Too many promises between two people, even if they’re unspoken.

With Nova, though, it feels . . . easy. Natural.

It stirs something in my chest. I don’t like it.

I feel the moment she gives into me, relaxing and just letting me take the lead. It’s fucking addicting. When the song picks up, I take her hand, extending my arm and spinning her back while she laughs. It’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard and when I tug her back to my chest, her lips are inches from mine.

Time stops for those few split seconds and everything between us hangs in the balance.

So this is what it feels like to earn one of her smiles? Like coming home after a long, hard-fought battle.

She tilts her head, her breath heavy on my lips and tasting like blueberries. They hover over mine for just a moment, as if she’s trying to decide if she should kiss me.

I’ve never been so engrained in a kiss. I’m not a sentimental man, nor am I a romantic. In those couple seconds, though, she’s got me by a chokehold that sends my world toppling on its ass.

This isn’t normal.

Not for me.

Cheers sound in the room, and I realize the song’s ended. I don’t release Nova and she doesn’t move for a moment.

“The song’s over,” she says quietly, eyes wide like she’s just seen a ghost. I can’t blame her. I feel the same way with the ache in my chest and the tightness in my shoulders.

Both of us stand there, staring at the other as we come to some conclusion that this has gone too far and now neither of us is sure we can get out.

Fuck, do I even want to?

“Good evening, everyone.”

Looking over Nova’s shoulder, Mayor Copley takes the stage, amidst claps from the room full of people.

Nova steps back, her skin flushed. She listens for only a second before she turns back to me, her hand on my chest and presses her lips to my ear.

“Want to go for a walk?” she asks, pulling back and biting her lip. I want to tug that lip from her teeth with my own. Just maybe not in front of Pap across the room.

“Always.”

“The water’s pretty tonight,” Nova says quietly, looking out over the waves as they wash against the beach for high tide.

I don’t say it because I’m not trying to scare her off, but she’s the prettiest fucking thing on this beach tonight. The moon shines on her hair, making it a wild mess of glowing curls. Her skin is flushed, under what’s left of the dim lighting from the town and those damned purple painted toenails in the sand make my cock twitch in my jeans like a teenager.

Fuck, I feel like a teenager, again.

I keep my manners, putting space between us, so we’re not touching, but she keeps inching closer, so her arm brushes mine and sends heat through my blood. Like her own form of torture.

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