Page 27 of Protecting Little Phoebe

She took a deep breath and nodded. Barren unlocked the door and then opened it for her. She walked past him, feeling like she was in a daze. Was this really happening? Did Barren really want to be her… her boyfriend?

It sounded crazy. And perfect. She turned to him after he shut the door behind them. “You want to be my boyfriend?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Was I not clear?”

“No, yes, I was just making sure that I wasn’t dreaming.” She lightly slapped her cheeks with both hands.

“Hey, what are you doing?” He took hold of her hands, giving her a concerned look.

“Just making sure that I definitely wasn’t dreaming. Maybe I should pinch myself to be sure.”

“No slapping yourself. No pinching yourself. No hurting yourself. Understand me?”

“I wasn’t hurting myself; I was just making sure I was awake,” she protested.

“You are awake and if you’re ever unsure, ask me. I will prove to you that you’re awake. You don’t have to resort to hurting yourself.”

“How will you prove that?” She gave him a suspicious look.

“Hmm, I can think of a couple of ways. Maybe like this.” Barren drew her toward him and then, to her surprise, he cupped her cheeks and lowered his lips to hers.

Oh. Wow. The man could kiss.

Phoebe had never melted into a kiss like this. In fact, she’d never really been into kissing before. It had always been okay, but never life-changing like she’d read in books. But now she got it. She tried to kiss him back, but he took charge, and she was happy to let him lead.

When he drew back, she was smiling dreamily, gazing up at him in wonder.

“Wow.”

His eyebrows rose. “Wow?”

“Yeah, you can kiss. I’ve never really been interested in kissing until just this minute.”

“Just this minute, huh? Good to know that I’m doing a good job.”

“Not good,” she told him. “Spectacular, amazing, wonderful!”

He grinned. “You’re good for me, sweetheart.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so. Now, do you have some pajamas?” he asked, looking around. “I can see you haven’t unpacked yet.”

She glanced around with a wince at the clothes strewn on the floor and coming out of her suitcase.

“I’m not really an unpacker.”

He just gave her a look. “Where are your pajamas?”

“Wellll…” She glanced around as though expecting them to jump out at her. That would be helpful. “Oh! Here they are!” She picked her pajamas. They were white silk with red hearts on them. The pants were long and wide while the top was a camisole.

“Adorable,” he told her.

She shivered as his heated gaze ran over her. “I, um, I’ll just… um…”

“Go get changed and brush your teeth, little girl,” he told her huskily. “Before I lose hold of my control.”

She gulped. Uh-huh. Sure. Only… maybe she wanted him to lose hold of his control?

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