Page 81 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
For the night.
The suite is spacious—an open living space, a full kitchen, and French doors that open into a luxurious bedroom.
Our luggage sits near the foot of the bed, and there’s a tray of fruit, cheese, and sparkling water on the table by the window. A text from Joni confirms that dinner will be up in an hour, which means we won’t have to leave this room for anything unless we want to.
Audrey didn’t protest when Simon demanded we stay in the same room, but I can’t help but wonder how things are going to go tonight. Whatever it takes to make Audrey comfortable—that’s my priority.
I watch as she slowly walks through the hotel suite, her fingers running across the back of the sofa. It’s a little small, but if I end up sleeping out here, I’ll manage all right.
I push my hands into my pockets. “Are you hungry?”
She picks up an apple from the tray on the table, then puts it back down. “A little,” she says, but when she looks up at me, it doesn’t look like she’s thinking about fruit.
We’ve been touching all day, taking every excuse to have our hands on each other, but now that we’re alone, we don’t have a reason to pretend. That doesn’t stop me from wishing I could pull her into my arms.
“Flint, will you kiss me?” Audrey blurts out.
Her words are like cannon fire throwing me fifty feet backward. I stutter out a laugh. “What?”
“I liked being in your arms today,” she says. She wraps her arms around her middle, like she’s trying to shield herself from the room. From me, maybe?I hope it’s not me.“I liked it a lot. And I know I said I didn’t want anything to happen between us, and I think I probably still feel that way. But I also feel like my limbs are going to spontaneously combust whenever you touch me.” She licks her lips and takes a step forward. “It’s hard for me to even say that sentence out loud because hyperbolic expressions like that always irritate me. But I don’t know how else to describe what I’m feeling. When you’re not touching me, I want you to be. When you aren’t in the room, I can’t stop thinking about when I’ll see you again. It’s illogical.” She lifts her fists to her cheeks, then thrusts them down again. “It’s maddening.”
She takes a deep breath and drops her eyes, then gathers her hair and pulls it forward over her shoulder with trembling hands. “Last week, when we almost kissed, that was real, right? You wanted to kiss me for real.”
I nod slowly. “I did.”
“Do you still want to?”
I swallow, thinking of the promise I made to myself to only kiss Audrey if I’m kissing her for real. “Only if it’s what you want.”
She shrugs. “I asked, didn’t I?”
Shedidask, and that’s all the confirmation I need. I close the distance between us with two long strides and sweep her into my arms, one arm wrapping around her and pulling her body flush against mine. I lift my other hand to her cheek and cradle her face, my thumb running across her bottom lip. “Audrey, I wanted to kiss you the day I met you. And I’ve wanted it every day since.”
She closes her eyes and takes a stuttering breath, then she pushes up on her toes and presses her lips against mine, slowly at first, then with increasing pressure. I let her set the pace, wanting, above all else, for her to be comfortable. But then she nips at my bottom lip before pulling back long enough to say, “Please don’t hold back, Flint. I’m not going to break.”
I let out a low groan and pull her even closer, my lips colliding with hers, the air between us crackling as our movements grow more frantic. I slip my hands around her waist, under the blazer she’s wearing, and she shrugs it off, letting it fall to the floor behind her. I pause, breaking our kiss long enough to take in the curve-hugging tank top I’ve been catching glimpses of all day. I skate my palms over the silken skin on her bare arms and shoulders and close my eyes. I want all of her, to claim her with my touch, my kisses, each one an echo of the feeling coursing through me:mine, mine, mine.
I slide my hands to her hips and hoist her up until her legs wrap around my waist, then I kiss her like sheisn’tgoing to break, with every ounce of the desire that’s been building in me for weeks. Her tongue brushes against mine as her hands tangle in my hair, and I almost lose my mind.
This woman is everything.
The taste of her, the feel of her as she moves with me, against me, like our bodies are tuned together in ways even our words aren’t.
I walk us backward to the couch—the bed’s closer, but I don’t want to give her the wrong impression—and sit down, leaning back until she’s hovering over me, her lips still pressed to mine. My hands splay across her back, reaching under the hem of her tank top to feel her skin warm against my palms. Her movements slow and her kisses yield to something more languid than frantic but still just as passionate. She isn’t in a hurry, and that’s fine with me. We’ve got all night.
If I have anything to do with it, we’ll have forever.
Except, somewhere in the back of my mind, I can’t let go of Audrey’s words, spoken just before we kissed.I know I said I didn’t want anything to happen between us, and I think I probably still feel that way.
I want her. But not until I know she wantsme.
All of me.
Even my stupid crazy life.
Our bodies really must be in tune because Audrey pulls back, shifting until she’s sitting on the couch beside me. She breathes slowly, deeply, until she finally says, “Flint, we can’t.”
I lean forward and run a hand across my face, my elbows propped on my knees, and take a minute to regulate my breathing. After the last ten minutes, it’s no small feat. “You’re right,” I finally say.
