Page 78 of Sweet Thing

That bottom lip trembled. “Lars.”

The quiver undid me.

“When you said you were going on a date, I was annoyed but I realized I had no right to be. When I saw it was MacFarlane, I wanted to punch him there and then—and that’s how I would have felt with anyone who spent a single moment with you, moments that by rights, belong to me. I know that’s not fair but it’s how I feel.”

God, it was good to speak openly. Liberating.

“You really want to … with me?”

“I shouldn’t. I’m all wrong for you, Adeline. And it feels like a betrayal of your dad. I have to be honest about that.”

She leaned into my touch. “I’m a grown woman. I’m not some child?—”

“Except you’re Theo Kershaw’s daughter. And he would kill me if he knew I’d touched you.”

She placed a hand on my chest. “Then we’ll have to make sure he doesn’t find out.”

On tiptoes, she pressed her lips to mine.

ChapterTwenty-One

Adeline

Lars didnothing when I kissed him. No reaction, just his entire being held still.Wrong again, Adeline. Another misjudged moment.

But then the moment exploded in a barrage of fireworks. His mouth claimed mine, all tentativeness gone, replaced with a thrilling urgency, as if worried I might change my mind. Or that he might.

Was I taking advantage? I pulled back.

“Is this what you want?”

“More than anything.”

“Because I feel like you’re at the end of your tether, absolutely no place to go?—”

“But in your pants?”

I tried for a humorous shade of gravity. “I’d hate to force you, Nyquist.”

He put a finger on my throat then drew a line down to the center of my cleavage. “I’m going to kiss you again and maybe grasp your lovely ass. If that’s not something you’re interested in, now would be the time to object.”

I tightened my lips so there could be no doubt.

He grinned, then moved his lips over mine, still smiling. That mouth was perfect, his lips warm and giving. I luxuriated in the feel of being wanted with such purity.

His hand curled around one butt cheek, then the other, and I was pulled in, close, and left in no doubt that Lars Nyquist was interested in me. Carnally.

That made me hungry, hungrier than I’d ever been. I wasn’t completely inexperienced, but neither was I an expert. Lars had years on me, several women in his rearview, proof of his virility sleeping next door.

Too many thoughts, too much doubt … I pulled away.

“I have a crush on you.”

His lips twitched behind his beard. “Right.”

“A big one. Going back years. But that’s all it is. Infatuation. Which is to say I’m not expecting anything more than tonight. I know your life is complicated.”

If I insisted this was just a little crush, or even a big one, I could maybe steer my heart away from a rockier path. Not love. Not anything so stupid.

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