Page 90 of Against the Clock

A bag sits at my front door, full of weekend stay-over stuff. A slumber party bag. My skin care products packed away neatly. Pajamas. Underwear so I don’t have to wear his again. I’ve packed A Wrinkle In Time, too, which I reread this week, smiling at the dogeared pages and underlined passages.

I love that he loves that book. It was better than I remembered, too, and the thought of him reading it again as an adult makes me like him even more.

His texts have been so cute this week, too. Flirty and sweet, the perfect mix of sexy and kind.

I’m grinning when he knocks on the door, and I fling it open, jumping onto him.

“Oof,” he says. I slide off him, worry lancing through me.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“No, not at all, Kelsey.” He grins down at me, but his eyes are tight, strained. His strong jaw is tight, and a muscle tics in his forehead.

I frown at him, but then he circles his arms around my waist, his lips meeting mine, and my concerns melt away. My fingers dig into his leather jacket, pulling him closer.

“You look gorgeous,” he tells me, finally pulling back. “I have two bags of Reese’s in the car for you.”

It takes me a minute to catch my breath. He’s just that damn good of a kisser. John can say what he will about Daniel being older, but knowing his way around the bedroom?

It’s a definite fucking bonus.

Literally.

“You look gorgeous,” I echo, and his smile gets even bigger. “I bought candy too.” I pat my purse, where the candy’s just waiting to be eaten. “You remembered I like Reese’s?”

“Yep. One bag to buy-in with, and another bag to bribe you for kisses with.”

“You don’t need to bribe me.” I kiss him again, and again, until he groans.

“We’re going to be late if you keep doing that.”

“Have I told you that you have the best smile I’ve ever seen?” I ask.

“Have I told you that you’re the best thing I’ve ever seen?” he replies, and we grin at each other like a pair of fools. “Is this your bag?”

“Yeah, I hope that’s okay.”

“Babe, it’s more than okay. You don’t even know how okay it is.”

“I don’t even know,” I repeat jokingly, doing a bad impression of him.

“Is that what I sound like?”

“No,” I admit. “You sound way sexier.” I drop my voice an octave. “You don’t even know,” I growl.

He barks out a laugh, then stoops to pick up my overnight bag. Something flashes across his face and he switches arms, putting the bag over his other shoulder.

“You ready to play poker?”

“Daniel… are you sure you’re okay? You look like something’s hurt.”

“If anything’s hurting,” he drawls out, his gaze heating as he looks me up and down, “it’s my balls, because my dick’s been hard all week without you around.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I say.

“It’s a good thing you’re not wearing a dress,” he says with an arch look.

“Is that right?”

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