Page 31 of The Very Naughty List

When the show ends, we get up off the couch and get ready to leave. Nick and I wait in the doorway while Grandma Dee puts the teacups in the kitchen sink before coming to see us off.

“Oh, look!” She points up at the ceiling over our heads.

I tilt my head up and realize that Nick and I are standing directly under the mistletoe.

“You know what that means.” Her grin is positively mischievous.

“Grandma, did you put that up after we got here?”

“Of course not.”

The innocent look on her face makes me suspicious. I can’t tell by her face if she’s telling me the truth or not, although she would’ve had to be pretty quick to do it in the time since we arrived. But it’s something I wouldn’t put past her.

I glance up at Nick, who’s standing as still as a statue, his broad shoulders filling up nearly the entire doorframe.

“It’s okay,” I murmur quickly. “We don’t have to.”

He clears his throat. “Weareon a date.”

“Right.”

“So we should probably kiss. Under the mistletoe.”

“Okay.”

Despite our words, neither one of us moves for a moment. He’s the only one of the Cooper brothers I haven’t kissed yet, and my heart kicks against my ribs at the thought of his full lips against mine and the scruff of his beard against my skin. What would it feel like against my cheek? What would it feel like… against other places?

Heat instantly rises in my face, and I glance sideways at my grandmother, who’s still watching us expectantly.

Then Nick leans down and kisses me. The scent of sandalwood and clove fills my nostrils as his lips meet mine, the masculine scent wrapping around me like an embrace. But despite the fact that his smell alone is enough to have me practically panting, the kiss feels oddly formal. No hands around my waist or cradling my face, no sudden burst of heat, just a simple press of our lips.

“How romantic!” Grandma Dee claps her hands, sighing happily.

She doesn’t seem to notice at all howunromantic the kiss was as we break apart. On the contrary, she seems exceedingly pleased with herself that she somehow either strategically hung the mistletoe there in the doorway or orchestrated the two of us standing under it—or both.

We both give her hugs before leaving and heading out to the car. We’re silent as we approach Nick’s vehicle, and I miss the easy banter and camaraderie that we had going on inside the house.

Not wanting things to settle back into awkward silence, I bump my shoulder against his arm and joke, “Okay, so you can redeem points for that lame kiss by how much fun tonight was.”

I reach for the door handle on the car, but before I can open it, Nick grabs me by the waist and spins me around to face him.

He presses me up against the side of the car, his wide, sturdy body pinning me there. The suddenness of it shocks the air out of my lungs, and in the space between one breath and the next, Nick crushes his lips against mine to steal what little air is left.

His lips are hungry and fierce, like he’s been waiting a lifetime to do this, and for all I know, maybe he has. This is nothing like the restrained, G-rated kiss he did for Grandma Dee’s sake a few moments ago, and my body responds instinctively. I cling to his broad, powerful shoulders as his tongue sweeps inside my mouth like his life depends on it.

My entire body catches fire, starting with my cheeks and burning all the way down as he kisses me like he’s trying to devour me, to consume me whole.

Holy shit.Thisis what a kiss from Nick Cooper can be like?

11

NICK

I press harder against Hailey,squeezing out the space between my overpowering frame and her soft, small body that I’ve pinned against the cold metal door of my car.

God, I want her.

It’s been nearly impossible hanging out with her this whole time and keeping myself together. I feel so drawn to her that even sitting next to Hailey on the couch at her grandmother’s house was like torture. Whenever I’m near her, I can’t help but be aware of her every movement.

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