Page 20 of The Proximity Effect

A small drop of ice cream clung to the corner of his mouth, and before my brain could remind me of all the reasons this was a terrible idea, I reached up to wipe it away with my thumb.

His hand caught my wrist before I could pull back, his grip gentle but firm. My breath caught as he wrapped his lips around it and slowly sucked it clean.

Sweet baby arugula, that was hot. Like, melt-your-favorite-silicone-spatula hot. The kind of heat that makes you forget about everything else, including the fact that I was perched on acounter, sharing ice cream with a man who might be my future boss, which was probably breaking at least twelve different health codes and who knows how many workplace guidelines.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to stop or if I was begging him to continue. So I did neither, waiting for him to make a move.

He released my thumb from his mouth but kept hold of my wrist as he stepped between my dangling legs, which I gladly opened wider for him. His other hand slid from my knee up to my hip, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” His face was inches from mine, and his declaration held an unspoken question.Do you want me to?

His breath against my lips and the smell of the vanilla ice cream was a heady combination. I wasn’t an employee yet, right? “I don’t want you to stop.”

That was all it took. His mouth claimed mine with an intensity that made my toes curl. I wrapped my legs around him without thinking about it, pulling him closer as his tongue swept into my mouth. His hand wrapped around the base of my bun, tilting my head to deepen the kiss.

He kissed with authority, precision, and a hint of barely controlled chaos that made my brain short-circuit. It was the kind of kiss that made me understand why people wrote songs about moments like this, and why romance novels dedicated whole chapters to a single lip lock.

His tongue traced mine with deliberate strokes that had me making embarrassing little sounds into his mouth, but I was way past caring about dignity. Not when he was nipping at my bottom lip and making my fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt.

A throat cleared roughly, and we jumped apart.

Of course, the universe decided yet again I couldn’t have an ounce of happiness.

Chapter 8

Backward Baseball Hat

Archer

Istepped back from Tessa as if burned, though my body still thrummed with the lingering heat of her touch. Had we not been interrupted, I might not have been able to stop myself from laying her back on the counter and having a different kind of dessert.

I spun around to find Evan and Liam frozen in the kitchen doorway, their expressions a mix of disbelief and barely contained fury. Evan’s eyebrows had practically disappeared into his hairline, while Liam’s jaw tightened in that way it did right before he lost his temper.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. Usually, I was the one catching them in compromising positions, not the other way around. I’d spent years building a reputation for being collected and in control, and here I was, caught acting like a hormone-driven teenager. If this had been any other woman, in any other situation, I would have already had three contingency plans and an exit strategy mapped out. But with Tessa, my usually razor-sharp mind had turned to mush the moment she’d stepped into my orbit.

“I should... probably... go reorganize my sock drawer. By color. And texture. And emotional resonance.” Tessa slid off the counter, nearly knocking over the now-melting container of ice cream. “Or alphabetically? Is that a thing people do with socks? I’m going to find out. Right now. Bye!”

Before I could remind her that she was at a hotel and not at her house, she practically sprinted for the door, ducking under Evan’s arm where he blocked the doorframe. The silence that followed her exit was deafening, broken only by the quiet hum of the industrial refrigerators.

I straightened my tie, a futile attempt to restore order to a situation that had spiraled wildly out of control. When I looked up, both Evan and Liam were staring at me with expressions that made me want to loosen the tie again.

Liam ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even further until he looked like he’d been standing in a wind tunnel. “Un-fucking-believable.” He let out a harsh laugh that held no humor, the sound scraping against my nerves like steel wool. “It’s Evelyn all over again.”

Evelyn.The name hit like a punch to the gut, dragging up memories I’d spent years methodically filing away into the darkest corners of my mind. The careful compartmentalization I prided myself on started to crack.

“Don’t.” My voice came out rough, a warning wrapped in a single syllable.

“Why not?” Liam’s voice rose, echoing off the stainless-steel surfaces. His fingers drummed against his thigh. “We should talk about it, since you clearly haven’t learned a damn thing in the last decade. Still diving headfirst into disaster with your eyes wide open.”

“This is nothing like Evelyn.” I kept my voice controlled even as my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

The mere mention of the reason we were no longer best friends twisted something dark and ugly in my chest. Evelyn had played us all masterfully, feeding each of us different versions of the truth until we’d turned on each other. By the time we’d figured out her game, the damage had been done.

“Really?” Evan pushed off the doorframe with a force that made the wood creak, his usual easy smile replaced by something sharp and unfamiliar that made me deeply uncomfortable. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks exactly like it.”

“That’s not what this is.” The words tasted like what I imagined Evan’s butter sauce from the night before would have. Even I wasn’t entirely convinced by my own denial. Tessa was about to be a part of our business, just like Evelyn almost had.

“No?” Liam’s bitter laugh echoed in the emptiness of the kitchen. “Then what exactly is it, Archer? Because we saw you sucking face with her, and I’m sure you’ve noticed my interest in her.”

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