Page 104 of Rebel Romeo

“Have any characters ever had amnesia?”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone have an evil twin?”

He doesn’t answer but two pink circles splotch in the center of his cheeks.

“It is a soap opera! I knew it!” I exclaim.

“Okay, fine,” he agrees. “It might be a soap opera. But don’t knock it ‘til you try it! The acting is better than the ones made here in the US.”

“Maybe it’s just the accent?” I do my best impression of an Australian accent and Holden cringes.

“That was terrible.” Amusement turns the corners of his mouth into a smile and he shakes his head at me.

I giggle. “I know. Accents have never been my forte.”

The server comes and places the bill between us. Before I can react, Holden places cash in the billfold and hands it back to the server. “No change, necessary.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He slides me a warning glare as I reach for my wallet, pulling out a twenty… it’s the only cash I have, but luckily we’d chosen a relatively casual Mexican place for dinner, despite being so dressed up.

He shakes his head as I try to chip in for my half of dinner. “Don’t even think about it.”

“But—”

“No buts.” He stands and offers me his hand. “After five years, I finally got you on a date. It’s my treat.”

I drop my cheek to my shoulder, reluctantly placing my hand in his. “We dated in college.”

He rolls his eyes at me, but doesn’t give in as he pulls me gently to my feet. “Fine. Four years.” Warmth hums in my chest as he brings his face level with mine. “But this time, I’m not letting you go.”

He curves his hand around my jaw and pulls my mouth to his in a consuming kiss. There’s a breathtaking sweep of his tongue along my lips and I gasp, parting for him as he coaxes my mouth open. He wastes no time sinking his tongue inside and gliding it along mine. He tastes of chocolate and ice cream and it stirs an unhealthy lust for him that I haven’t let myself be consumed by since I was eighteen.

As hard as I try, I can’t fight the pleasant heat that spreads from my core to my limbs.

Is this really happening? Finally? After all this time?

“Want to come back to my place?” I whisper, my mouth brushing his as I ask the question.

The answering growl that comes from him rocks a shudder down my spine.

He’s already got us out the door of the restaurant, his one free hand high in the air, hailing a cab.

We’re all over each other in the backseat, like hormonal teenagers who can’t keep our hands to ourselves. A tangle of hands and legs and lips and tongues that make my head spin. And while normally, the thought of moaning in the backseat of a cab would have me blushing and hiding, I can’t control myself.

After all this time, all these years of wishing and wanting and craving Holden, it’s finally going to happen. Giving in to his touch and lips is like standing at the edge of a high dive, launching myself head first into the deep end of a pool.

The thrill of his hands exploring my body, skimming up my thighs beneath the hem of my dress clenches my heart. Reaching out, I find his erection through his cashmere dress pants and give him a firm stroke. He groans into my mouth and nibbles my bottom lip. “Fuck, Katherine,” he groans as I stroke him.

Then his hands are beneath my skirt on my ass, shifting me to straddle him in the backseat. “You have no idea,” he whispers between our breathtaking kisses. “You have no idea how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment. This night. The night I could call you mine again.”

I freeze, my lips still over his and pull back to look into the amber pools of his eyes. “Is that what this is?”

“God, yes. If you’ll have me, Katherine. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to move heaven and earth to give you everything you don’t even know you want yet. My heart has always been yours.”

All the doubt and uncertainty creeps back into my thoughts, like high tide beginning its ascent. “Really? You could have fooled me, Holden.”

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