Page 53 of Wish You Would

Either way, sitting across from Gigi in a quiet kitchen, sipping hot tea from a giant soup mug was an unexpected twist.

We hadn’t said much since taking our seats at the island in the middle of this absurdly modern, glistening kitchen. I’d asked her how she took her tea, and she answered (cream and sugar, thanks), and she’d asked if I wanted a slice of blueberry pie (um, absolutely, yes). Then, we drifted into silence while we ate and sipped, neither of us acknowledging the elephant in the room.

Elephants, plural.

My mind recalled those last moments of my date with Halle. It’d been a nice date. Halle was every bit as lovely as I’d built her up to be in my head. But…

Across from me, Gigi sipped from her mug, her dark lashes fluttering against her freckled cheeks. My heart ballooned. As lovely as Halle was, she wasn’t Gigi. So I’d left. And now here I was. Here we were. Eating pie instead of talking. Instead of kissing.

I flashed back to those earlier moments, on that moonlit sidewalk. The attraction had been mutual, of that I was now sure. She’d brought me back to her place, for goodness’ sake. So, why had we stalled out as soon as we stepped inside?

I needed answers.

“So,” I said, setting my fork down. “Is this what you do with every girl you bring home?”

Gigi’s eyes flew up, the last bite of pie frozen halfway to her mouth. “Um.” She frowned. “I…what?”

I leaned in, elbows planted on the island, chin in hands. “Is this your wooing tactic? Yummy pie in a fancy kitchen?”

A laugh flew from her lips. She sat back, dark eyes assessing. “First of all,” she said, amusement still pulling at her mouth, “you’re the one who suggested tea. I was being a good hostess with the pie suggestion. Second.” Her face softened. She looked me over, from the top of my head to the tip of my chin, and it felt like a caress. “I’m letting you set the pace here, Parker,” she said. “I brought you home, yes. But nothing is going to happen that you aren’t ready for.”

We locked eyes over half-eaten pie and cooling tea, and just like that, it was back. The pull low in my belly, the pull in my heart. “I think,” I started, barely hearing myself over the beating in my chest, “that I’m ready for more.”

Gigi’s eyes flashed, but she held steady in her seat. “Are you—”

“Yes.” I stood and rounded the island. “I’m sure,” I said as I stopped in front of her. She spun her seat to face me, and I stepped between her legs. She lifted her face to mine, her breath quickening. I smiled, savoring the effect I had on her.

“There’s so much,” she started, her eyes dropping to my lips, then lower still, to where my dress dipped to reveal the teensiest hint of cleavage. “So much to talk about.”

“We’ll have time to talk,” I said, placing a finger under her chin to lift her eyes back to mine. “Later.”

I could see it: the moment her restraint snapped. And it was beautiful.

Leaning in, her nose grazed over mine. My eyes fell closed, breath quickening. Our lips brushed, the lightest of touches, and a sound closely resembling a whine escaped my throat. I felt Gigi smile, and I moved to close the distance between us and kiss it right off her perfect face. But before I could get close enough, she pulled back.

“Patience,” she murmured. “We’ve got all night.” Then, finally—finally—she kissed me.

I kissed her back with everything I had, not caring if I was overeager. This was no time to play it cool, no time for embarrassment. Cupping her face in my hands, I sank my teeth into her bottom lip, earning the most delicious sound I’d ever heard, and it fueled the fire already blazing inside me. I kissed her, arching my body against hers, showing her without words how much I wanted her.

Then, in a flash, she was out of her seat, pushing me back, back, back, until I hit the refrigerator. But she didn’t stop. She stepped forward until her body was flush against mine. Air whooshed from me as my every cell leapt to life. I raised my face to hers. There was a fire in her eyes I hadn’t seen before, and the knowledge that she was burning for me? Well…it made me feel powerful.

Leaning up, I kissed her again, and, oh, did she kiss me back.

Her fingers still in my hair, she held me steady as she brushed her tongue over my bottom lip, asking for access I was all too happy to give. Opening my mouth against hers, I held on for dear life as she teased me with deliberate, deep strokes of her tongue. It was a slow kiss, the kind of kiss designed for exploration, for stoking the flames. Over and over, she delved in, wringing sounds and sighs from me, turning my entire body into a live wire.

“Gigi,” I gasped, throwing my head back to drag air into my lungs. “Please.”

“I think,” she said as she kissed her way down my neck, “that I could get used to hearing you beg.”

My hands left her waist to bury themselves in her hair, holding her against the crook of my neck, where her teeth and tongue were doing devilish things. “How long are you planning to make me beg?”

The laugh that vibrated against my skin sent a lightning bolt of want straight to my core. “Oh, sweet Parker,” she said, lifting her head to look me in the eye. “You have no idea.”

I traced my thumb over her swollen bottom lip, the steady thrum of need radiating from my center making me brazen. “Then show me.”

A growl left Gigi and she kissed me again, this time more urgent. I kissed her back with equal fervor, filling my hands with her soft curves, arching away from the fridge, urging her to touch me, too.

And, oh, did she oblige. Her hands slid over my shoulders and across my chest, teasing at the bare skin there, only to dip lower, finding the hem of my dress. The moment her fingers brushed my bare skin, stars—literal stars—exploded behind my eyes. I moaned my approval into her mouth and she took the hint, skating her touch higher and higher, over the sensitive skin of my stomach, tickling across my ribs, to cup my lace-covered breast. “You have no idea,” she said, voice low and only for me, “the things I’ve done to you in my head.”

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