Page 61 of The Usual Family Mayhem

“I kissed you last night, didn’t I?” Yep. I brought up the topic I’d planned to avoid until absolutely necessary. Dragged it out and set it on the table in front of us.

Smooth.

“Technically, I kissed you,” he said.

I saw it that way, too. “It was mutual.”

“And amazing.”

His fingers dipped deeper into my hair and his thigh pressed against mine. That uniquely Jackson scent wrapped around me, knocking out what little common sense I still possessed.

“Are you flirting with me?”Please say yes.

“The fact you can’t tell is very frustrating. How exactly do men in DC date?”

Talk about killing the mood. My mind flipped to my last few dates, and I renewed my vow never to pick a blind date over a night in, watching aHousewivesTV marathon, again. “You don’t want to know.”

“I’d like to kiss you again.”

My heart took off on a wild roller-coaster ride. He’d barely touched me while he whispered the words I longed to hear. My self-protective shields crumbled.

Still, a woman could not be too careful. Rushing in—my lifelong method of doing anything—was the wrong choice here. Our lives were too bound up and interconnected for that. “Why?”

His eyes widened. “Why?”

“It’s a legitimate question. You’ve spent years being annoyed by me. You’ve never shown any interest before now.” I refused to describe our first kiss again as an example, especially after his mouth dropped open like that. “What’s with the face?”

“For a smart woman you can be pretty clueless.”

His thumb brushed against the skin on the base of my neck. The shiver that ran through me almost knocked me off the couch. He had to have felt it.

I didn’t even know what we were talking about anymore.

“What if I kissed you right now?” he asked.

No thinking it through and weighing the consequences. “I wouldn’t stop you.”

That sexy smile of his made another appearance. “Interesting.”

He cradled my head in his palm. The pull between us tuggeduntil my body leaned in. My mouth hovered an inch from his. “I’m a complex woman.”

“That you are.”

Then his mouth was on mine. This kiss, scorching and fierce, made the same demands as the last one. Stop worrying. Lose the inhibitions. Don’t think about what could go wrong. Dive in and feel. I mentally said yes to all of it.

The kiss raged on. He lifted his mouth long enough for his breath to brush over my cheek, then our lips met again. The couch cushion dipped, bringing his body tight against mine. My hands roamed over his shoulders. His arms wrapped around me.

When his mouth moved to my neck every nerve ending kicked to life. My eyes begged to close so my body could savor the moment. My brain started to shut down. I fought to remember why I came to the condo and what mattered so much that I had to see him that night.

Oh, right. “We’re supposed to come up with a plan for me to come clean with Gram and Celia.”

I sounded breathless and blamed that thing he was doing with his tongue. What was that? If his mouth skimmed over my ear one more time he’d find me on his lap.

“That’s definitely a later problem.” He sounded equally out of breath as his hand slid down my side. His fingers slipped under the hem of my shirt. “I suggest we table any conversation about other people and deadly concoctions.”

He pressed gently, pushing our bodies down deeper into the cushions. I pulled him in close. Brought his body tight against mine as my back hit the couch.

“I suppose you think that’s sexy lawyer talk.”

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