Page 45 of Twenty Years Later

Those eyes seemed to turn blue as she stared up at me. And then her gaze went to my mouth, and I knew I had to taste her.

Our lips met, hesitant at first. Except for the brief kiss at the airport, it had been so long. So many nights of thinking and dreaming about her. Her arms went to the back of my neck, her hands in my hair. I grabbed her closer to me as our kiss grew into something raw, something hungry.

But still, something inside me held back, not just because I knew it couldn't really lead anywhere but because something still felt... off. And I couldn't be completely comfortable about Jayda and I being together until I knew what it was.

But damn, she tasted good. And my body immediately responded to her.

A loud noise in the next room broke us apart. Seconds later, Audrey and Gabby came crashing around the corner.

"Mama, I'm hungry, and you promised pancakes!" Audrey said.

Jayda let go of me and laughed. "You're right. I did."

Swallowing down my passion, I said, "Pancakes sound great."

"So, Alex," Jayda said, glancing back at me, "you up for a little pancake making contest this morning?"

I couldn't resist her sexy, teasing smile. "You ready to eat the best pancakes you've ever tasted?"

"Oh, you mean mine?"

And with that, Jayda and her flirty grin disappeared around the corner with me and the girls following behind. The kitchen was already prepped with ingredients all set up on the counter, and I pulled up my favorite recipe that I had saved on my phone.

"It is so on," I said, my competitive side coming out. "Although you do have home stove advantage, so I'm not sure how fair this is exactly."

Jayda giggled as she pulled out a griddle from a low cupboard. "This ought to help you. I'll even tell you what setting to put it on for the best results."

"You'd do that?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to have to eat your undercooked or burnt pancakes, would I?"

"I'm not the one who burns everything," I joked.

She smacked me on the ass with a spatula as we laughed, the girls pausing to stare at us. I cleared my throat and got to work on making my batter, Jayda and I both quiet as we concentrated and the girls started to play with a big container of kitchen utensils.

As I stirred in the ingredients, I thought back to how competitive Jayda was in high school and realized she hadn't really changed much in that aspect. She'd also been almost shy and embarrassed about how smart she really was, but sometimes her inner shark had appeared, like the time we had competed for the top physics prize.

"Remember when you beat me on the final exam to win physics student of the year?" I asked.

Her face turned pink again, and I loved the way I could do that to her.

"Yes, I remember. I remember it like it was yesterday. And I also remember how you pretended to trip me as I walked up to the stage to pick up my award."

I grinned because of course she would bring that up. "Hey, I was just trying to help you out and make you laugh."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "Oh, yeah? And you thought that was a good time to make me laugh?"

"Honestly, you want to know why I did that?"

"Yes, Iwouldlike to know actually... making the whole school laugh at me."

I put down my measuring cup, not sure if she'd believe me. "Well, first off, they weren't laughing atyou, doll. They were just laughing at the situation."

"You think?"

"Yeah, I don't just think. I know," I assured her.

"Okay. So Mr. All-Knowing Alex, why did you do that?" she asked.

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