Page 34 of Karma's Kiss

“Oh my god, you could never be a spy!” I tell him.

Now he’s jumping around, acting like he needs his leg amputated. “Why’d she need to put the table right there anyway? Get me some ice, would you? It’s swelling.”

“Ohcome on. You barely banged it.”

“I’m sure it’s a bloody mangled mess. I’ll need twenty stitches at least.”

I laugh and then—realizing I’m being too loud—quickly lower my voice. “Don’t be ridiculous. Let me see.”

I’m already kneeling on the floor before him, squinting in the dark, tugging on his pant leg. “Here?” I ask, skimming my thumb over the front of his left shin.

“No.Higher,” he says with wicked intent.

“Hilarious.”

I intentionally press on the spot where there’s atinybump on his shin, and he winces. “Dammit, now it’s really going to bruise.”

He reaches down and hooks his hands underneath my arms so he can haul me back to my feet and away from his injured leg, lest I get any more ideas about “healing” him. Our bodies brush together and his hands slide from beneath my arms, down along the curve of my waist. The moment passes where he should have pulled them away if he was merely helping me find my footing, but now, he just holds on to me, clinging in fact. I hear his sharp intake of breath when I raise my hands and rest them on his chest. There’s an electric current running between us that I want to test. I step closer andthere—it’s pure magic.

I sway against him and his hands circle around my lower back, drawing me completely flush against his hard body. I feel the ridge of his jeans press into my belly. His broad chest and strong arms hold me steady. Our hearts race as if trying to outcompete one another.

I tip my chin up in the dark and sense rather than see him lower his face toward me, but he doesn’t do it. He’s dangling the carrot just over my head.

LORD HAVE MERCY.

“Are you going to kiss me?” I whisper, sounding slightly awed by the idea of it. “If not, can I kiss you?”

Can I kiss Sawyer Garnett?It never seemed like a question I’d ever get to ask, but now he leans down and answers with his lips pressed against mine. Warmth spreads through my limbs like fire and the heat immediately envelops us. It’s been so long since I’ve kissed someone like this—with hungry, nearly desperate need—that I can’t pull myself away.

Our kiss in the vineyard the other night was fueled by wine, or so I convinced myself, but this is something else entirely. Our mouths open to each other. Sawyer’s arms band around me even tighter. He’s a boa constrictor, which makes me easy prey.Swallow me whole. See if I care.

Something crashes outside, a tin trash can lid banging against concrete.

“It’s just the neighbor’s cat,” I assure him, holding him close just in case he gets any ideas.

Trash can lid, nuclear war, Armageddon—who cares? Ineedthis.

As far as making out is concerned, Sawyer knows what he’s doing. More so than Matthew. I know I shouldn’t be comparing the two in this moment, it’s just Sawyer is knocking me on my ass here and I want to sink my fingers into his hair and tug. I want to suggest we keep this party going on the floor of my mom’s kitchen, or propped up on her linoleum countertops, or pressed against her little farm animal needlepoint picture.

It’s ludicrous.

I smile as I pull back. “Stay focused.Cookies,” I remind him.

He kisses me again, groans like he’s annoyed to break it off, and then steps back.

The separation almost does me in.Never mind, take me, here, NOW.I almost suggest it, but then I reach back, take hold of the countertop behind me, and try to get it together. I know if I let go, I’d sink down to the ground like a boneless blob.

“You okay?” I ask him through the darkness.

“No.”

Huskiness laces that word. I grin.

“And I know you aren’t either, so don’t even lie.”

“Don’t worry, if you could see me, I’m sure I look like I just put my finger in an electrical socket.”

“That good, huh?”

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