Page 152 of Bookworm

"Your friends are nice but kind of nosy."

"They are not!" I said, though yes, theykind of were—so was I. But that was beside the point."Casey and Natalia are wonderful."

"Hmmm."

Bo leaned forward, his gaze intent on my lips, but I placed my hands on his chest, trying not to swoon at the way his muscles felt against my palms.

I swallowed."You're…what is happening right now?"

"I'm kissing my girlfriend," he murmured.

"You mean, fake girlfriend," I said automatically.

He slowly shook his head, staring into my eyes.

"Nothing fake about it," he said. "There never was."

And then Bo kissed me.

He stole the breath from my lungs. His mouth moved with mine, gently crackling and sparking like embers in a bonfire.I clutched his t-shirt tight in my hands, tugging him closer, wanting to feel more of his warmth. He came willinglyuntil his chest was pressed against me, one of his hands wrapped around my waist, leaving no space between us. But still, I wantedmore. Trying to communicate this through the kiss, Imoved my hands up to his shoulders, stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips more firmly to his.

As if he'd read my mind, Bo broke the kiss only long enough to grumble, "Finally," then placed his hands on my waist and lifted.

My legs wrapped around him on instinct.

The kiss ignited.

One of Bo's hands moved to grip my thigh, making sure I didn't fall, leaving a trail of fire in its wake, the other burrowed into my hair, and as I sat perched atop one of the bookshelves,our lips never parted. I felt Bo's breath hitch as I deepened the kiss.I nipped his top lip, and a low growl sounded in the back of his throat. His kiss grew more heated then. And I loved it. Ishould've been concerned about knocking books to the ground—but right then, I was lost in thefeeling. The absolute serenity of being in Bo's arms, having his lips caress my lips, wanting nothing more than to keep kissing him and kissing him and kissing him.

It was bliss.

It felt like we were the only two people in the world.

The kiss gentled. When I thought it was over, Bo kept giving me these little lingering kissesthat made me want to laugh and cry at once. He finally set me back on my feet and leaned back, and for a moment, we just looked at each other.

I shook my head. "That was unexpected."

"Just showing you how I feel," he said.

When I gave him a questioning look, Bo sighed.

"You're not the only one struggling with feelings, Kent."

I couldn't believe my ears, but my heartremembered the kiss that'd happened only seconds ago. It wasfilled with hope.

"Does this mean you have feelings for me?"

"Yeah," he said, "I have for a while. It's pretty annoying."

"Annoying you is one of my favorite things," I said with a grin.

He shook his head, but the corners of his lips lifted.

"So is making you smile."

"Don't get used to it," he said back, but the smile remained.

Tilting my head, trying to get my heart back under control, I said, "I'm glad you didn't kiss me like that before."

---