Page 14 of Kilo's Edge

He groaned. “You’re kidding me?”

That made me blink and I licked my lips because the sound rumbling out of him made everything within me soften. I wondered if he even realized what the sound of him groaning in appreciation did to me? I shifted, pressing my thighs together to try to stop the sudden ache that sprang to life between them.

The last four years had been hell. Torture. There wasn’t time for attraction. Or men. Or anything a young woman should be thinking about. School. Careers. Marriage. Kids. All of it had taken a backseat. And it wasn’t over. But Kilo was forcing me to confront the fact that I was still alive. And young. And that I wanted some of those things.

“Homemade pozole?” he added. I nodded. “I haven’t had pozole in alongdamn time. Dang time,” he corrected with a cough. Mama always scowled at bad language.

“Would you like to have dinner with us?” I offered.

“Yes,” he replied so fast I couldn’t help but laugh. “But, that’s not what I want in payment for the window,” he added with a wicked smile. He stepped forward, placing his glass on the counter.

I sucked in a breath because he was standing so close now. I glanced up at him. “What do you want?” He paused for so long it made me wonder what he was thinking.

“For you to come to dinner with me. On a date,” he finally said.

How was I supposed to refuse that? How was I supposed to turn him down when everything inside me was screaming yes?When he’d taken his own time, his own money, and his own supplies to help my family? When he didn’t need to make our problem his own? “Okay.” The word came out soft and unsteady.

He searched my gaze. There was confusion there in his eyes. He didn’t seem to know what to do about this attraction any more than I did. I was glad it wasn’t only me struggling.

He reached out to me and brushed his thumb over my cheek. I had to fight against closing my eyes. When he stepped in even closer the breath lodged in my chest. I swallowed hard. I wanted him to kiss me. Mama and the drama following us be damned. My lips parted as I waited for him to make that move.

Our eyes were locked together and he seemed to take my stillness as the acceptance it was. He lowered his head.

My eyes drifted closed as our lips met. His were softer than I thought they’d be. I gasped as his arms went around me and he gathered me close so he could deepen our kiss. It was…heaven.

He was being slow and gentle. Thorough. His lips moved against mine and when his tongue brushed against my skin, I opened for him.

This was nothing like the kiss I’d shared with Mike when I was nineteen and beginning to entertain the idea of a boyfriend. That had been nothing but fumbling chaos. When our teeth had crashed together, we’d ended up laughing. We knew nothing about kissing at the time. We’d started dating and had learned, but it was still nothing like this. There was something different about Kilo and the way he made me feel.

I sighed into his mouth. He was stoking something inside of me I hadn’t known existed. His tongue brushed mine and I melted in his arms. Everything around us disappeared.

When someone cleared their throat, I jerked away from him. We both gave my mama guilty smiles. I knew she’d softened toward him because all she did was watch him like a hawk as hegave her a polite nod, grabbed his lemonade, and headed back outside.

She turned back to me and sighed. “Mija.”

“It’s nothing Mama,” I told her. “We were just-”

“I can see what you were doing,” she interrupted, resting her hands on her hips.

My cheeks flamed with heat, and I turned back to the vegetables. I was so confused and embarrassed. I didn’t know what to do about the feelings swirling around inside me.

“Mija,” she said again, coming around the island and waiting until I looked up at her. There was sadness in her eyes. “I don’t want you to be alone.”

My brows shot up. “What?”

A pained expression crossed her face. “You aren’t me. I know you won’t make the same mistakes I did.”

I sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. “Mama, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I chose the wrong man,” she insisted. “That was my mistake. I don’t want that for you.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “I know. I’ll just-”

“Stop,” she told me. She held up her hand to quiet me. “I don’t want you to make the same mistakes as me, but you’renot me.”

That made me blink in shock. She’d spent the last few years warning me away from any man who’d come close.

“And I don’t want you to be alone,” she repeated. “No onewants to live their life alone.”

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