Page 45 of Never Fake Date the Financier
Her cheeks redden as she takes a sip of her water. “What are you asking for?”
“Another kiss. We haven’t had our first public kiss. How else will my family know we’re the real deal?”
She shakes her head. “You think we’ve practiced enough?”
“I could use a refresher.”
She considers it for a moment but then shakes her head. “I think you need to save this energy for tonight.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Another sip. Another long look. “It is.”
“Then consider yourself on notice, Ella.” I stand up and move around the table toward Ella slowly. I lean in. “I’m going to kiss you. And it’s going to make you reconsider why you waited so long.”
She’s silent for a moment. But then: “I hope you’re right.”
* * *
Wow.
I grip the edge of the high-top table as Ella re-emerges from the crowd of guests in front of me. It feels as though I’m seeing her for the first time all over again. The primal feelings return. The need to claim her. I’ve been aching to kiss her all evening. Feel those damn lips of hers. Taste her. But we’ve kept it respectful between us.
No public displays of affection other than a hand on the small of her back. A chaste kiss on her forehead. The back of her hand. Nothing like what I want to do to her. What I’ve imagined doing to her from the moment I met her.
That one kiss in our hotel room feels like an eternity ago. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to go on without claiming her lips again.
I sip my drink, trying to settle my nerves as I watch Ella navigate her way through the crowd of people between us. She’s all I can see. All I can focus on. Everything else is a blur. Not even the persistent, heavy thump of music coming from the dance floor registers as anything more than a weak tapping. She disappears behind another group of people, but I know instinctively where she’ll re-emerge.
When she re-enters my field of view, she pauses for a brief moment, sharing a few words with someone, but her eyes remain fixed on mine. Her lips curl into a smile, squeezing the air out of my lungs as she walks toward me. Stunning. Gorgeous. Perfect. There’s not a single word that captures her beauty. And when she finally reaches the table, I can’t help but stare.
She sets her drink down next to mine, leaning in to speak over the music. “I’m surprised Lillian hasn’t latched onto you while I was gone.”
“Yeah? Feeling a little jealous? Possessive?”
She pulls back, eyeing me as she smiles. “Me? Never. “
“Oh?” I slide my hand around her waist and tug her closer. “Because I’m feeling a little possessive.”
The air shifts between us. It’s the first time tonight that I’ve started acting on my urges. Needs. Wants. I’ve played the role of a doting boyfriend, and Ella’s played the role of a loving girlfriend masterfully. But now I want to play something else.
“You know we haven’t had our kiss yet.”
My pulse is thrumming as I stroke her back. I’ve been thinking about kissing her all night. I considered pulling her into a closet or dragging her out onto one of the balconies. The clerestory was empty during the ceremony, and I considered pulling her away from the crowd as we cleared out of the cathedral, but Ella was swept away into another conversation.
Ella’s fingers dig into my side. “We haven’t? Strange. I thought we did.”
I swallow hard. “You’d remember.”
Ella sighs, fingering her glass as her cheeks redden.
“Much like you’re remembering our first kiss back at the hotel right now.”
My grip tightens around her waist.
Her finger pauses.
“I’m not sure that kind of kiss would be appropriate in public.”
