Page 61 of Here and Now
“Tremendously.”
“Do you see her often?”
Miles nods. “Almost daily.”
“And does she know how you feel?”
He leans in, his hand a breath away from mine. “I’m pretty sure she does.”
There’s this incredible tightness in my chest from his nearness. He smells so good. He’s so close. I could just kiss him once, see if the dreams were even close.
I debate it for another second, lingering over his features, studying the way his eyes show no hesitation.
If I do this. If I moved closer, just a bit, he’d kiss me, and I know, in the pit of my stomach—it would be good.
But I don’t know that I can do it.
This is a really bad idea when I remember all my reasons. Edward’s killer hunting me, running, them finding me, threatening Kai ... each one tallies up in the con column, but then ... my heart wants something else.
It wantshim.
“Mom!” Kai yells, rushing into the room, and two things happen almost at once.
I pull away so fast my momentum causes me to knock the chair back, my legs flying up in the air as I tip over.
“Oof!” I yell as I hit the floor, thankfully smart enough to lean forward and not hit my head.
The other is Miles leaping out of his seat and calling my name. “Penelope!”
I want to just die of mortification. Truly. I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life. I just went ass over head in a freaking chair.
Maybe if I keep my eyes closed, for a second, this will prove to be another variation of the dream.
However, it’s real. My dreams wouldn’t be that bad, and I don’t have that kind of luck for this not to have happened in reality.
I lift my hands when he reaches for me. “I’m fine. It’s fine. I meant to do that.”
Yeah, I definitely didn’t.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m . . . great.”
At least Miles has the decency to turn when he tries to stop from laughing. All I see is his shoulders shaking, but there’s no sound.
I get up, put the chair to rights, and then sigh.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Kai asks.
“No, honey, just ... what did you need?”
“I just wanted to know when we’re leaving.”
Immediately, so I don’t have to look at Miles. “In a few minutes. Start cleaning up.”
He rushes back out and Miles turns to face me. As soon as he goes to open his mouth, I stop him. “Don’t speak of it.”
He chuckles. “Okay.”
