Page 19 of A Break in Communications

“Damn,” Veronica’s voice said from somewhere that didn’t matter, “you two—I love this for you and all, but, like, right in front of my sandwich?”

I winked at Anna, and it took her aback, just a little, as I turned back to the table, picking up my wine and swirling it lightly. “Well, if the sandwich is looking,” I said, “we’d better be decent.”

My mind kept spinning through it the whole time, that thought thrumming there in the front of my mind wondering how Anna would react if we upped the ante until I kissed her. And then I guess how she would react when I died instantly. To lay sacred touch upon a goddess was beyond the remit of a mere mortal, and I felt like the heavens would smite me if I tried.

Would be worth it, though.

We finished up with the meal before too much longer—the company was a bunch of cheap bastards and barely fed us more than a light lunch—and we moved onto the socializing, people gathering around with drinks and talking in the center of the room, gathering in small groups and gossiping, meandering, while Anna’s mother continued to flounce around like she wassupposed to be here. I stuck to Anna’s side, both of us posing nicely with arms around each other’s waists, but when the rest of our table headed off in every direction, Anna leaned closer to me and spoke in a whisper.

“What are you after, Masters?”

“A happy life, Preston, darling. Aren’t we all?”

She twitched an eye in my direction. “I think I know why you’re inviting yourself to my family’s holiday reunion, but tell me so I know if it’s right.”

I smiled sweetly. “To spend more time with my precious partner?”

She closed her eyes, letting out a long, strained sigh. “So much for plausible deniability, huh?”

“You, if you’ll recall, are the one who started staring into my eyes talking about cozy dates just for the two of us.Idid not say anything specific until then.”

“Well—” She fluttered her eyes open, a little—just a little bit—cross-eyed with vexation. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything half as cute. I thought I’d die on the spot. “Youstarted it.”

“Oh, did I? How, exactly?”

“With your—feeling me up?”

“My hand on your shoulder? What do you call your hand caressing my waist, then?”

She rolled her eyes, turning back to the drink she held in her free hand, and if I didn’t know Anna well, I’d think she was just sick of my bullshit. As it was, I knew she was sick of my bullshitandshe had that cute little blush creeping into her face again. “Calling your bluff. I noticed you can do it to me all day but you lose your cool when I do it to you.”

Yeah, maybe that was because I was so desperately, achingly in love with her that I’d throw myself on a blade for her without a second’s hesitation, and every touch from her was a sweet symphony. But who knows? I was probably talkingnonsense. “I guess I’ll have to get some more practice in, then. Shall we gaze deeply into one another’s eyes?”

“Like you’d be able to take it,” she said lightly into her wine before sipping it. I leaned closer to her ear, whispering softly.

“I promise you I can take it, Anna.”

She choked a little on the wine. I’d take that as a compliment. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Masters.”

It was just my selfish whims, but to be fair, she was inviting it. And I never,everrefused a challenge. I tilted my head to look at her, and I put my thumb and forefinger on her chin, just the way she had on me earlier, and I tilted her head to meet me, my heart settling into a blissful sigh when I met her eyes.

She blinked fast, blushing more, and she licked her lips nervously. I found myself smiling.

“You don’t do this a lot,” I said, my voice low, “do you?”

She didn’t miss a beat. “And you do?”

“Of course. All the time, with my husband.”

She smiled drily. “Given that your husband turned out to actually be your grandmother, honestly, that’s a little disgusting.”

I laughed. “What kinds of sick things do you spend your time picturing, Preston?”

“Sick things? You, mostly.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You spend a lot of time picturing me?”

“What? Uh.” She scrunched up her face, and I felt like my chest would explode. I knew it was just her being confused and forgetting what exactly she was responding to, but I liked to think about her spending a lot of time picturing me…

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