Page 71 of Your Place or Mine

“You were doing it in my bar. With my brother.”

I could hear how irrational it sounded. I could see the disbelief on her face.

But I didn’t back down.

“You like seeing me twisted up,” I muttered.

She stepped in—close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off her. “You don’t get to accuse me of playing games when you’ve been staring at me like you want to devour me and then turning to stone every time I get close.”

I opened my mouth. Closed it.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

And she knew it.

“You don’t get to glare at me like I’m your problem one second and then act like I’m your prize the next,” she said. “You don’t get to dothis—” she motioned between us, frustration spilling out of her in waves, “—and pretend it’s only happening on my side.”

I stepped closer. Just enough to shut her up. Just enough to feel her breath catch between us.

One hand came up before I could stop it, brushing her jaw, my thumb grazing her cheek like I needed tofeelshe was real before I crossed the line I’d been dancing around for weeks.

“This is a bad idea,” I said, voice low and strained.

“I know.”

And then I kissed her.

Or maybe she kissed me. I don’t know who leaned in first. It didn’t matter.

The second our mouths met, the world stopped spinning.

She tasted like whatever I’d been starving for—sweet and sharp and so damnalive. Her fingers twisted into my shirt, pulling me closer like she needed something to hold onto, and I kissed her like I was trying to make up for every second I’d wasted pretending I didn’t want to.

It wasn’t gentle.

It wasn’t careful.

It was fire.

Her lips were so soft, and the little murmur escaping her lips made every part of my body tense.

It wasfinally.

When we broke apart, we breathed hard, like we’d run from something and collided halfway there.

Her forehead rested against mine.

I should’ve said nothing. I should’ve let it sit in silence.

But I couldn’t.

“I told myself not to touch you,” I whispered.

She ran her fingers over my chest. “We’re way past that.”

That’s when the weight hit me.

I stepped back, dragging in a shaky breath.

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