Page 11 of It Just Feels Right

I tell myself I should stay where I’m at, but I can’t help it. I walk over to her, stopping just a couple of feet away. “You can ask me anything.”

She nods, crossing her arms over her chest. “When did you realize I was your stepsister? Is this some kind of game? You want to mess with your dad or my mom or something?”

My jaw tightens. “You think I’m messing with you?”

She shrugs, but her eyes remain on me. “I don’t know what to think.”

I take a step toward her and then another. When I’m standing right in front of her, I reach for her arms and gently unwrap them from across her chest. I let my hand trail down her arms and then thread our fingers together so I’m holding her hands between us. “I knew the first moment you saw me. Do you remember it?”

She laughs with a little snort and then stops suddenly, embarrassed. “Yes, I remember. I wasn’t drinking, and it was just last night.”

“Did your heart start to race?”

She rolls her eyes. “I just got body-slammed to the floor. My heart was racing.”

I smile knowingly. “Did you feel a tremble start at your neck and then it rolled through your whole body?”

Her eyes widen, but she shrugs. “I was holding ice to my head. Of course I was trembling.”

I’m not stopping. “Did your nipples pebble? Was there a tug in your lower belly that you didn’t quite know how to deal with? When you were sitting in front of me, your knees between mine, were you thinking about having my hands on you?”

She gasps, and her voice trembles when she asks me, “How did you? I mean—”

She doesn’t finish her sentence, so I lean down and am so close it’s a fight within myself to not just kiss her. “How did I know what you were feeling? Because I was feeling it too. Every bit of it and probably more graphic than you imagined.”

I pause and take a deep breath. “Cass, when I first saw you, I didn’t know who you were. I just knew that I wanted to know more. When Chloe called you Cassie, I put two and two together and knew that you were my dad’s new wife’s daughter.”

She laughs at my wording. “Your stepsister… I’m your stepsister.”

I shake my head. “You can put whatever name you want on it. All I want to hear is, you’re mine.”

She pulls a hand from mine and slaps me gently on the chest. “Stop. You have to stop this. Nothing can come of me and you. We can be friends, and we’ll see each other at family events and around town, but that’s all we can be.”

I cover her hand with my own, pressing it to my heart. I know she can feel my heart racing. “Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t feel anything for me?”

“Baker, I just met you last night.”

I bring up my other hand and wrap it around the base of her neck. “I know we just met. I’m asking you if you feel anything for me.”

She’s speechless as she blinks up at me. My voice softens, and I lean in, pressing my forehead againsthers. “Tell me you don’t feel anything for me and I’ll walk away, Cass.”

I can see her mind whirling. I’m sure she’s thinking about her mom, my dad, her sister, family gatherings… everything. That’s who she is. She wants to take care of everyone. “Baker.”

I groan, and my hands tighten. “Say it again.”

“Baker… we can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“No…” she says and then quickly changes her mind. “Yes.”

I want to devour her. “Cass, baby, I need you to give me an answer. Can I kiss you?”

She clenches her eyes together, and I forget to breathe. When she opens them, I can see the answer in her big green eyes. “Yes.”

I don’t hesitate. My lips are on hers in an instant. First just small kisses and then I run my tongue along her seam with a moan. “Open for me, Cass. Let me in.’

When she opens her mouth, I take full advantage. I tilt her head to the side, deepening the kiss. My whole body reacts to having her in my arms, flushagainst my body and her lips captured by mine. The kiss is everything.

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