Page 24 of Let Me Say It Again

“Jade here loves flowers. She’s really a softie at heart and such a giver.” If only he knew what I’d have liked to give him right about now. “Did you know she spends her time doing charity work when she isn’t helping me out at the office or working with her family at their fashion magazine. You’ve heard ofBellissima, right?” So he was using my status as Regina’sdaughter to make this whole thing appear more legit, like he wasn’t slumming it. “Anyway, I decided if I was going to propose, then I was going to do it where she was happiest—delivering flowers to terminally ill patients at the hospital.” Was he trying to make it not believable? “She came out of the last room she was visiting for the day, and I was on one knee at the nurses’ station, prepared to ask this amazing woman to be my wife.”

I had to do something before I threw up from all this sweet shit. Or worse, someone asked what hospital. So, I slipped my hand around Red’s neck (although, I would have liked to do a lot more than that) and sped things up. “He proposed. I said yes.” My eyes were on his now. I could only imagine what he was thinking. “It was great. Magical. A story for the books.”

Suddenly, the roomoohedandaahed,and my darling sister, Bianca—who I now hated—started everyone chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.” When did she and the others come back inside? And since when was she such a Benedict Arnold?

“Try not to fall in love with me, okay?” Red whispered so only I could hear him before cradling the back of my neck and pushing me toward him, his lips coming down on mine without a moment’s notice.

My heart began to race, and butterflies were set free in my stomach. This was not sitting well with me. I tilted my head with every intention of parting my lips and taking this shit to the next level.

Why was this so good? I knew I was attracted to Red, but this was not what I was expecting. It was like kisses in those girly movies—toe-curling. I thought that was made up, a marketing ploy to make people watch more romance movies in hopes that they’d one day fall in love and get their happily ever after. You know, the ones that started with their toes curling from a simple kiss.

Seriously, it was a simple kiss. I went to part my lips, but his lips were already off mine, his hand dropping from the back of my head as his eyes searched the room of people watching. Next time, buy tickets for admission to the circus show, asshats.

Eyes slightly wider than usual, I fought the urge to feel my lips and try to relive the kiss in my head. What in the world just happened? And why was he right when he’d said he was a skilled kisser? Not that I’d ever admit such a thing.

Everyone broke out in cheers or whoops or whatever noises they were making with their mouths as though they’d never seen two people kiss before.

Red turned and winked at me. “Just think, these lips are all yours for the taking.”

Ugh. Back to campaigning for exclusivity. “Yeah, sure.”

He smiled, like a full-on, I-know-I’m-a-great-kissersmile. Smug was not an appealing color on him. “You should consider yourself a very lucky woman.”

Oh, sure, I was the luckiest woman on the planet. Quick, someone get me a scratch-off because I might actually win big this time. The only lucky thing that had ever happened to me was when a bird pooped on my shoulder a couple months ago. Although, it didn’t feel lucky, it felt shitty (no pun intended), and I had to throw away a perfectly good sweater becausegross.

Then, I decided that kiss must have been a fluke. He’d known it was happening. He’d initiated it. It was time I ran a little experiment of my own before I went agreeing to this ridiculous exclusive crap. I needed to make sure for myself what I was getting out of this deal.

If he was so good (read: fantastic) at kissing, then he should be able to do it again when I caught him off guard andIinitiated it.

Plan activated.

Chapter Ten

Reddington

“Well, I’ve donemy duty and made sure you got to your front door safe and sound.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and shrugged. “Now the rest is up to you. Lock the door when I leave. Wouldn’t want ours to be the shortest engagement in the history of the world.” And with where she lived, it could just be.

Jade rolled her eyes and unlocked her door. “Something tells me someone’s had a shorter engagement. As I said, love is a con.”

Wow, the way she saw love was sad. And marriage, thinking it was a life sentence. Anyway, I liked to consider myself a decent human, but it was late, and, like I’d said, I’d done my duty, so there was nothing left for me to say.

That mixed with the fact that this night was slightly torturous, being so close to her, breathing her in, my hand grazing her, touching her when she wasn’t really mine. I couldn’t have her, not in the way I wanted.

My cock twitched every time I looked at—or even thought about—the way her blue dress molded over her curves. Her cleavage was practically spilling out of the top, and I wanted to bury my head between her tits and lick, suck, and bite them and her nipples. And that godforsaken slit. Slits were made to make a man’s balls ache. They had to be because I wanted to follow the path with my hand, slide my way up, and caress her clit, to feel her beneath my palm. The fact that I couldn’t was where the achy balls came in. Ergo my problem.

And, thus, my cue to leave. You know, before I did something stupid. Plus, the sooner I left, the sooner I could go home and get some relief. “Good night, Jade,” I said, not wasting another second.

I went to turn on my heel but was caught off guard when instead she pulled me to her by my collar. I didn’t have a second to think about anything—literally my mind was blank—before her full, puckered lips collided with mine, her eyes a deep brown that held a ravenous, needy look in them—their gold flecks all but gone with the heat. It was the first time I’d seen them burn that way. I didn’t hate it. Honestly, it turned me the hell on. Like I needed any more turning on.

I closed my eyes and leaned into the kiss and whatever got into her that provoked her to take charge this way. Again, she tasted heavenly, like she was going to become an addiction I didn’t need but couldn’t stop myself from giving into with every breath I took. This was definitely not the show-pony kiss we’d had at the country club.

I trailed my hands up her sides, holding firmly onto her hips before tracing the seam of her lips with my tongue, asking for access. She parted on a delightful sigh, seemingly just as eager as I was to deepen the kiss.

She reached up and grazed my jawline before inching two fingers to my cheek, the delicate touch sending a wave of pleasurable shivers down my spine.

I pulled her closer, needing to feel her, all of her, against me. Her tits pressed up against my chest, and she maneuvered her leg around mine to step further in, her center on my cock. I could feel the pulse of her pussy through our clothes. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her. Fuck, she was aching to be touched. And as much as I knew she wanted this, she never actually said it.

I broke the kiss, letting my hands fall, and backing up so there was some distance between us. Jade hit my shoulder with her purse, gasping.

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