Page 31 of French Kiss

“Oh, Mad. You’re such an idiot. What if it did work out?”

“That scared me even more.”

“So… setting aside how I might feel about the whole thing, you were content just dating all these other women and never giving it a go with me… just out of fear of what might happen?”

“What if it was a total bust and we ended up not being friends?” he said. He looked pained at the thought and I knew he was being real.

“Give us a little credit.” I reached out and put a hand on his. Even if I didn’t fully understand the workings inside his mind, I was his friend and it was hard to see him looking so anguished.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So what are you saying now? You broke up with Rea. I’m not dating anyone, and neither are you.”

“I know,” he said.

I waited, but he didn’t say more. Maybe he couldn’t. In that moment, with the chatter of other bar patrons all around us convincing me that no one was interested in what two people at the bar were doing, I felt myself in a now-or-never situation. I felt it in my heart and in the whirling ache of desire I’d tried to keep at bay for months.

This was getting crazy. I couldn’t keep going around in circles with Maddox claiming that if only some particular situation had come about, maybe we’d be a couple. We were out of time. I needed to know.

I edged closer to him, watching his eyes the whole time, trying to read something like acceptance or fear or agreement that he wanted to kiss me—finally.

His eyes betrayed nothing, but he leaned in. He reached a hand up and cupped my chin lightly, ran his thumb over my cheek, and gazed into my eyes. He looked a little scared. I wasn’t about to talk him out of it.

When his lips touched mine, I felt my breath stop.

Oh my God. So good.

No. Wrong guy. Bad for me. Learn from my mistakes.

I couldn’t think. I only felt the soft sandpaper of his end-of-the-day stubble as I ran the back of my hand against his face and brought it around behind his head. Neither one of us backed away, and our lips melted into each other’s like we needed the connection in order to survive.

Everything around us fell away. I only saw Maddox and only felt his hand on my face and his lips on mine.

It all felt inevitable. It always did with those bad boys. Right up until they slept with my sorority sister or chem lab partner or roommate. But until then, sweet, sweet surrender. It was all good.

When we pulled away, my heart was pounding, and my thoughts felt scrambled.

Neither one of us spoke for a minute. “That was… interesting,” he said. Which was the last thing a woman wanted to hear. What? I felt my heart crumbling in my chest.

“Interesting?”

“I mean, amazing. And… maybe everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Better.

It sounded romantic, but that was Maddox, always waxing poetic even when he didn’t mean it. I wasn’t sure what to think, but I was sure I wanted to kiss him again, even if he didn’t make sense. Maddox was way ahead of me, grabbing my hand and leading me up the stairs to where the bar had a roof deck I’d never seen before.

“How did you know this was here—”

His lips were on mine and his hands were everywhere and all conversation was forgotten. Maddox swung me around to hold me against the railing and pushed closer to me, his lips more insistent yet still gentle as his tongue found mine and I fell deeper under his spell.

He kissed my neck, running his finger across my cheek until I closed my eyes to concentrate only on the feeling of him.

When his lips landed back on mine, I heard myself moan quietly in anticipation of more, as we stood locked in a mad tangle of hands and tongues and passion until I lost track of everything else.

When we broke apart, it was like I’d forgotten how to exhale after being so swept away by the feeling of his mouth on my skin. I took a minute and tried to sort out the thoughts flying through my brain. What just happened? What does it mean?

“You have no idea what you do to me,” he said, his breath hot on my neck.

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