Page 41 of The Road Trip Romance

Thank fucking God! A kiss.

I pretend to frown and then she frowns. “You don’t like it?” she asks. “We can tweak things,” she adds hurriedly.

“It’s not that. I love the concept, but…” I trail off, trying to add some hesitation before I throw out my suggestion.

“But what?” she asks, her eyes widening.

“I…we…haven’t kissed in a long time,” I state, trying to will myself to blush a little.

“Really?” she asks.

“Well, we broke up officially like six months ago,” I explain. “I’m a little out of practice.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just film a movie where you kissed the heroine?”

Fuck.

“Well, that’s different. It’s notrealkissing,” I try to mask.

“Oh? How’s that?” she asks as she places her hands on her hips. Fuck, she’s onto me.

“Lots of different camera angles make it look more than it is,” I answer.

We’re silent for a moment. “Couldwepractice?” I motion between us.

Her eyes widen. “You want to practice kissing withme?” she asks.

“I mean, if you would be willing,” I say. She looks everywhere but at me. I see a flash of panic and I’m momentarily preparing myself for the disappointment I will feel when she says no. But then, it’s like a lightbulb goes off in her head and she nods slowly.

“Like…acting?” she finally says as if remembering my vocation for a moment.

“Yep. Acting. But like real acting. No fake camera angles. Sorry, if I had a leading lady to practice with, I’d do that, but no way am I practicing with Penn, Jordan, or Rex,” I say and I watch her lips twitch with amusement.

“I mean, Penn might be a good kisser,” she teases, and I glare at her. “Or not,” she adds as pink crawls up her neck.

We both stand there for a long moment as if neither one of us knows what to do.

“Uh, do you want to practice with my full script?” she asks as she glances back over at her laptop.

I clear my throat and nod. “Sure…I mean, that makes sense, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I haven’t acted since my high school drama club play, but I’ll do what I can,” she says and the way she looks at me as if she’s trying her best to be the leading lady I need her to be is more endearing than she can possibly know.

She turns and picks up her laptop, typing something and then handing it to me. “There, just read from there,” she says as she points at a paragraph on the screen.

I nod and study her words for a long moment. Damn, she’s good, really good. Clearing my voice again, I begin.

“Lacey”—but in my head I say,Sophia—“I know we made decisions based on what was best, but I’ve thought about those words, those conversations for the last six months, and we were wrong. We belong together. Kids, no kids, it doesn’t matter.” I set the laptop down and look into Sophia’s eyes. “I just want more, so much more. And I think as long as I’m with you, then that’s all themorethat I need. You are mymore. You are it for me. You always have been.”

I step closer and take her face in my hands. “You went off script,” she whispers.

“I like to improvise,” I reply as I lean down so our lips are nearly touching.

“Would Lacey say something now?” she murmurs, her eyelids closing.

“No, because after that speech, I’m not leaving time for my leading lady to say anything,” I reply as I press my lips to Sophia’s.

And holy shit!It’s better than I’ve imagined it for the last few days. Her lips are soft and warm against mine. I decide to go for gold. I run my tongue along her lower lip, and she gives a surprised little gasp. And I use it to my advantage as my tongue plunges into her mouth, running along hers. She sighs and I feel her body relax as I deepen our kiss. Our tongues slide along the other’s. I nip at her bottom lip and then plunge back inside. She tastes like the chocolates we had in the car, and I want more.

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