Page 45 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

“I don’t care about the Asia tour,” he says.

Dalisay’s eyebrows shoot up.

“I …” He looks at her, weighing the words in his mind before releasing them. “I want this, us, for real.”

There, it’s out in the open. He can’t take it back.

Dalisay looks at him for a long second, her dark eyes wide and surprised. She still doesn’t say anything.

But Evan’s nerves get the better of him and he can’t stop. “I know we said there weren’t any strings attached or whatever to date after the stages were over but I can’t help the way I feel about you. Forget the tour, forget the bet. I want to be with you. I stopped caring about winning a long time ago. And I know you don’t have to change your mind about me or anything, but I figured you should know.” She still doesn’t say anything, and that’s all he needs to get the message. He winces. “And I made this really awkward! I … I’ll see you at work.”

He turns to go but Dalisay grabs his wrist. “Wait.”

His skin burns where she touches him, but he doesn’t pull away. Her touch is grounding him to the spot.

“Evan, I …” She can’t seem to find the words, and his heart pounds so hard, it actually hurts. Her fingers twitch, holding on to him tighter. Finally, she says, “I feel the same way about you too.”

Relief is like a drug coursing through his veins. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Why didn’t you?” she laughs, eyes bright.

This whole time, he should have known … They’d been circling each other, neither knowing that their feelings for each other had become mutual. The revelation is as clear as a ringing bell. He takes her hand, the one on his wrist, and holds it. Every nerve in his body is electrified.

A smile creeps onto his lips. “I want to kiss you so bad,” he says, a little breathless.

Dalisay sucks in a tiny breath, like maybe she’s a little breathless too. She raises an eyebrow and a playful smile lifts one side of her mouth. “Ibetyou won’t kiss me.”

Evan’s heart is beating like crazy. “I’ll take that bet.”

His eyes drop to her lips and desire fills him up. He wants her. He’s wanted her for so long, and now that she’s right in front of him, all he has to do is close the gap. She goes still, as if waiting to see what he’ll do; then Evan lifts his other hand, resting his palm on her cheek. Then he pulls her toward him.

He kisses her, pressing his lips against hers so gently, it makes his head spin. She melts against him, leaning forward, and her breath tickles his cheek. Her lips are so soft, and he can taste her cherry lip gloss mixed with chocolate on her tongue. He deepens the kiss and feels her whole body respond, matching his urgency now that they are finally doing what he’s dreamed about for weeks.

After a second, he pulls back and remembers to breathe as Dalisay’s eyes flutter open. Those beautiful dark eyes take him in and it’s easy to forget where they are. He lifts his hand off her cheek, dumbstruck. Is this really happening?

Dalisay licks her lips, her pink tongue peeking out for the briefest moment, before she looks at him with a shocked expression that Evan can only assume matches his own. Hisblood pounds in his ears as they stare at each other. It’s like the temperature of the air between them got cranked up a hundred degrees.

Deftly, Dalisay twists her hand out of his and she grabs him by the front of his jacket, her gaze returning to his mouth with a kind of desperation that makes him feel like he’s a Hershey’s bar placed in front of a chocoholic. She might eat him alive.

Holy shit. She wants him. Now.

“Should we … go somewhere else?” He barely recognizes his own voice, low and hoarse with desire. “Somewhere private?”

She nods, meeting his gaze once more. Color rises in her cheeks, and her eyes sparkle with Christmas lights from the tree as another smile spreads on those insanely kissable lips. “About time.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Dalisay’s back slams the bathroom door open, and she and Evan tumble into the room, lips locked. Making out with Evan Saatchi in the public bathroom at the ice rink was not something she ever imagined herself doing, but she couldn’t wait another minute to get her hands on him.

Evan uses his foot to close the door behind them as they kiss like they’re making up for lost time. Fire burns between their bodies, and Dalisay’s thoughts drown in the feel of him under her fingers. How warm his neck is, how soft his lips are, how strong his hands hold her as they knot in her hair. His mouth crashes against hers and her lips slide against his, taking him in with every breath.God, she thinks.Finally.

She kisses him, cupping her hands against the line of his jaw, her fingers touching the soft skin behind his ears. A small moan melts out of his throat, and she smiles against his lips.

Kissing him in the dream was nothing compared to the real thing.

She presses Evan against the bathroom wall and his hands secure her to him, firmly grasping her hips, like he doesn’t want to let her go. The heat of his fingers burns through the yarn of her sweater. Although her eyes are closed tight, colors dance behind her eyelids. She loses all sense of time, of space,and the only thing that matters is the way Evan leans into her, strong and solid. Warmth floods her whole body. If it were possible, she wants to touch him everywhere at once.

Why did they take so long to get here?

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