Page 398 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
Assuming I can figure out a way to eat in this dress.
Flint tugs me close, pulling my back against his broad chest, and bends his head down to nuzzle my neck. He presses a kiss just beside my ear. “I’m starving. How are you?”
“Same. Am I allowed to eat in this dress, you think?”
“Definitely yes.” He’s quiet for a beat before asking, “What did you think of the movie?” The vulnerability in his voice makes my heart squeeze.
I spin around to face him, pressing my hands to his chest. “Flint. I loved the movie. You were brilliant.”
He smiles the slightest bit. “High praise from a woman who doesn’t like movies.”
I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. “I just needed the right person to show me the right movies.”
“Yeah? What movies are the right ones?”
I grin. “Any ones that you are in.”
The elevator reaches the top floor and dings, the door sliding open, and Flint reaches for my hand and tugs me out of the elevator. Instead of walking toward the party, he heads to the right, pulling me into a small alcove just past the bank of elevators.
He leans down to kiss me, stealing my breath and sending ripples of heat through my body. He pulls back, looking at me for a long moment before pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me.
It’s just a hug—but this hug feels like it means something different. Somethingmore.
“Things are better when you’re here,” he says, his lips close to my ear.
I run my hands up and down his back. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Everything,” he says simply. He finally lets me go, and I look up to find his gaze fixed on my face. He smiles. “I don’t want to freak you out, Audrey. But I like the man I am more when you’re beside me. You make me better.”
I push up on my toes and kiss him one more time. Because what else could I possibly do? Tonight, for the first time, I’m finally willing to admit that maybe Icanhandle this kind of life.
It’s still so new, but as I press my palms against Flint’s chest and feel the pounding of his heart, it suddenly feels magically, blissfully possible that this man will be the rest of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Audrey
The party is impressive.Unlike any party I’ve ever attended before.
Claire said there would be food, but the spread, which covers two enormous tables lining the far wall, is more elaborate than anything I’ve ever seen before. There is also an endless supply of champagne, which I would usually ignore without a second thought. But tonight, we’re celebrating.
Flint grabs a couple of glasses from a passing tray and hands me one. “ToTurning Tides,”I say, holding my glass.
Flint grins, then leans forward and presses a quick kiss to my lips. “You can toast the movie if you want. But I’m toasting us.”
After we eat and drink and eat some more, Flint catches me yawning. All the champagne is making me sleepy.
Flint squeezes my fingers. “What do you say we find Mark Sheridan, impress him with my startling charm and your giant biology brain, then call it a night?”
I smile. “That is the sexiest thing you’ve ever said.”
I won’t take full credit if Flint ends up getting the lead in Mark’s next movie. But I’m just saying, Iownthe conversationabout the environmental impacts of offshore drilling. If the goal was to impress him, mission freaking accomplished. Flint keeps looking at me, his smile wide, squeezing my hand whenever I answer another one of Mark’s questions.
It’s not like I thought Hollywood wasonlyabout beautiful people talking about inconsequential things. But…okay, maybe thatiswhat I thought. But after talking to Lea earlier today about consulting on her script, and after talking to Mark, it’s nice to recognize there’s more to it than that.
Even though our plan was to cut out early, the four of us, me, Flint, Mark, and his wife, Deidra, end up talking for hours before I finally have to excuse myself to find a bathroom.
“Hey, take Joni with you,” Flint says, motioning to where Joni and Nate are sitting just behind us. “I don’t want you going anywhere by yourself.”
