Page 68 of Play Along

I dust the pad of my thumb over her lower lip, forcing my signature smirk to appear as I say, “I think that’s our cue to get out of here, huh?”

She nods against my thumb.

Taking the initiative, I slip my hand into hers and lead her towards the door without giving anyone time to say something shitty to her that’ll just end up pissing me off.

I don’t want to be pissed right after I had the best kiss of my life.

“I’m sorry,” she bursts out as soon as the private dining room door closes. Her hands fly to her mouth. “I cannot believe I just did that. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You can kiss me anytime you want, Kenny. Please kiss me anytime you want.”

“Isaiah.” Her eyes close. “That wasn’t what it—”

“I know what that was. I know you kissed me to prove a point about the shit he was saying. I fucking loved it. You want to use me to shut him up? I’m happy to volunteer.”

She opens her eyes, with a smile that screams “I can’t believe I actually did that” trying to break through.

God, she’s fucking cute when she’s proud of herself.

She dusts a finger over her mouth as if to remember what it felt like when we kissed only moments ago, and I’m over here knowing I’ll never be able to forget.

“What he said though,” she begins, her tone frantic. “He wasn’t wrong. I... I don’t know how to be affectionate. The way they were with each other tonight, I want to be like that, but I don’t know how to. I don’t know how to be the kind of woman that a man would want.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think you’re not exactly the kind of woman a man would want. Just because you’re not comfortable with showing physical affection doesn’t make you any less of a woman, Ken.”

“But I want to be. Comfortable, I mean. With affection.”

“Okay,” I say softly, soothingly. “You’ll get there.”

She chews on her lower lip, eyes nervously finding mine, with a voice so quiet I’m certain I mishear her when she says, “Will you teach me?”

Chapter 13

Kennedy

“So you were in an arranged marriage.”

They’re the first words Isaiah has spoken to me since leaving the restaurant. After I asked him to teach me, he stood in shocked silence, mouth slightly agape. I swear minutes passed where he simply stared at me in disbelief before saying, “I need you to start from the beginning.” Then ushered me out to my waiting car, where we’re currently sitting in the back seat.

“We never got to the marriage part, but yeah. You could call it that, I guess.”

He rests his head back against the seat. “All these years, I thought you were engaged to someone you were in love with. I would’ve tried a little harder if I knew.”

“You tried plenty hard. Trust me.”

His lips tilt in a knowing smile. “I’m just saying. I would have pursued you a little more seriously, been a little more focused, than just blatantly hitting on you like an idiot because I knew I didn’t really have a chance anyway.”

It wouldn’t have mattered.

Partly because Isaiah isn’t someone I’d go for, but mostly because my eyes have never been open in that way. I knew from a young enough age that I’d be marrying for financial or business gain. There was no part of me that romanticized the notion of dating, falling in love, and marrying a person of my choosing.

That freedom was never on the table for me until now.

“So will you?” I ask Isaiah again, turning in the back seat to face him. “Teach me?”

“Fuck, Kenny,” he exhales, palm running down his face. “I’m too malnourished to have this conversation right now. Who in their right mind thinks it’s okay to charge those prices for two bites of food? Does anyone actually get full from eating at that fancy of a restaurant?”

“If they say they do, they’re lying.”

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