“You’re welcome.”
“Uh-huh. Any real, hard limits? The nonnegotiable kind?” I ask once I’ve got my bearings back.
I fully expect him to just be his usual self and give me another flippant, joking answer.
And he delivers.
“You can’t fall in love with me,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “Is that a common problem?”
“Depends. I’m usually very good at detecting the early signs when things are about to go horribly wrong for me. I’d really prefer it if we could avoid any feelings getting involved at all.”
“I’ll try and resist the temptation,” I say drily.
“Much appreciated.” He holds out his hand. “Shake on it.”
So I hold out mine as well, and we do. Once that’s done, he doesn’t let go, but instead tugs me toward him.
“Are we finally done negotiating?” I ask.
His eyes shine with amusement.
“I find your smartass tendencies incredibly hot.”
My cheeks heat. Some leftover nerves give another kick in my stomach.
“You make me nervous, and it just sort of comes out.”
And he’s far too handsome with the way the dimple flashes in his cheek as he bites back a smile.
“You haven’t been nervous around me since we met, so why would you start now?”
“I wasn’t planning on sleeping with you all those other times.”
His eyes darken, intensity mixing with lust.
“But you are now,” he says.
“Well, I’m not here to play Scrabble, am I?”
“All the better for you. You’d lose. I’m fucking awesome at Scrabble.” He leans closer and kisses the side of my neck.
I suck in a breath and tilt my head to the side.
“You’re very confident about your Scrabble skills.”
He hums against my skin and a shiver runs down my spine.
“I’m confident about most of my skills,” he says, just before he covers my mouth with his. It’s another one of those exploring kisses. Light and almost lazy. Little more than a brush of his lips. A graze. A tease.
He keeps kissing me.
He kisses me until my nerves ease into something manageable.
He kisses me until I forget to worry about my body or how inexperienced I am at using said body when it’s naked and in the vicinity of another equally naked body.
He kisses me like he’s in no hurry to do anything else. Like kissing me isn’t just a pit stop on the way to something better. Like kissing me is the something better.