Page 46 of Secret Crush

He nodded. "You're right. I'd still like you with me tomorrow."

With luck his family might bond, now that Mitch was gone. "Of course. I'll be there for you. We're friends."

He turned and her back went against the wall. Her entire body ached with need as he leaned closer to her. "We're more than friends."

Her toes curled as his hands surrounded her. Her eyelashes fluttered. "I don't know, John."

He lowered his head, as if he'd like to kiss her. She closed her eyes and waited for his lips to brush against hers, again. Then he said, "I don't know what I'm doing near you."

His mouth brushed hers and she saw stars all around them. His body pressed against her and nothing else existed except the two of them.

He stepped back and looked like he was selected in a military draft, unable to escape. She tried to stand taller, but swayed on her feet from the too-brief kiss. His face was red. "Alice, you're someone who believes in happy ever after."

She shook her head, not wanting him to take on responsibility for her feelings. If she let her wild side dictate her emotions, she'd happily accept whatever small amount of time he offered her. Then she'd stop whatever fantasies she had of what might happen between them that sparked from her old crush. "I don't believe in love."

His eyebrows quirked like she said the silliest thing he ever heard. She'd straightened out her dress. She'd have to be more convincing.

"You have two stable parents."

She nodded. Parents didn't mean she was needy. "Yeah, and they love each other despite how they drive each other crazy."

His blue eyes clouded. "I never knew my mother. I have sketchy memories of a woman who might have been her, but I was two when she disappeared."

Disappearing wasn't the story that she remembered being told. She tilted her head. "Didn't she die?"

John shrugged. "So my father says. He said Vicki died too, so I don't believe anything he ever told me. Tomorrow's reading might be where he finally kicks me out of the Morgan family and does what he promised to do years ago."

His mind had to be on the reading of the will tomorrow. His father wouldn't cut him out. It would make it look like he'd been unable to keep his family, and Mitch Morgan was all about family appearances. In how many magazine pictures did Mitch Morgan present himself with his son or sons? She ran her fingers down his bare forearm and caressed the blond hairs near his wrist. "John, I don't envy you."

His dimples returned and the fire inside her flamed. "It's why I think you're the sexiest woman I ever met."

She shook her head. He was being ridiculous. "What?"

He inched forward, his hip pressing hers against the beige wall. "You are."

His hands traced her arms and her body tingled, hoping he'd kiss her again. She asked, "How?"

His head lowered and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your blue eyes haunt my dreams. Your kiss is embedded on my lips."

John Morgan kissed her like she was the most important person in his life. Her toes curled as her entire body craved him. He tasted better than honey or chocolate or anything she'd ever had that was sweet. Then she pulled her head back and whispered, "Stop."

He froze though his blue eyes had flecks of lightning inside them. "Why?"

She tightened her hold and she tugged him close. Regrets were for tomorrow. Right now, she lived. "Because I want you to do it again."

He pressed her back against the wall, kissing her so deeply that she lost sight of everything else. All that mattered was how they'd become one.

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