Page 47 of Runaway
My mind was too busy as it replayed that kiss to hear the obnoxious ringtone. The sparkle of tears that had lingered in her eyes when I first arrived. A mixture of vulnerability and chaos in her gaze. The way she'd slid onto my lap and kissed me back like we were about to die.
Maybe I had.
Because that is how I'd want to go.
The stupid phone rang again, but I ignored it. Lost in thoughts of the hint of spearmint that lived on her breath and whatelseI wanted to do with her now.
“Mark,” Stella drawled, drawing me from my thoughts. “Are you going to answer that?”
With a jerk, I pulled myself from my thoughts and scrambled for my phone. Heat rose to my cheeks as she quietly chuckled. An unknown number flashed across the screen, so I rejected it.
There was just one thing I wanted to do.
With a low growl, I tossed the phone on the couch, stalked to the desk, and pulled her back into my arms. Stella melted against my chest like butter, her lips instantly on mine as I yanked her to me. For what felt like an eternity, Stella let me kiss her. Let me realize that what happened out there wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't an imagined hope.
No, the heat between us was real.
Before I let it go too far, I pulled away. Stella blinked as I held her at arm's length, a note of confusion in her expression.
“I want to keep kissing you for the rest of my life,” I said before she could misjudge my intent, “but until we save Adventura, that's not feasible. And I think I need to take a moment and make sure you're okay with this.”
For half a breath, I feared she'd run away screaming. Realize that she'd made a mistake and now she had to fix it. Instead, a warm smile filled her eyes. Whatever changed in her, I had no idea. But the Stella that walked away from the pier was different than the one that went out there.
“Very okay,” she whispered.
Unable to help myself, I smiled. “Me too.”
She moved toward me as if to resume our new favorite activity together, but I rallied all my control and held her back. My finger lifted.
“Ah! One more thing.”
A silent eyebrow rose.
“What is this to you?” I asked carefully. “I need to know now if you're wanting a friends-with-benefits thing or if this is you wanting . . . more.”
The words felt as heavy as my bumper plates. They were awkward in my mouth as if I couldn't force them past my teeth. But the last several months on that stupid dating app had taught me that people brought allkindsof ideas to relationships. For all I knew, Stella just wanted to kiss off some steam and resume where we'd been before, as friends.
For my sake, I sincerely hoped not, because I had a dark feeling I was halfway in love with her already.
Stella paused for a moment, and I could almost see her brain moving as she worked out what to say. Enough time to let me doubt what I'd said.Too fast, idiot,I told myself. One make-out session didn't a girlfriend make.
But maybe I wanted it to.
Because I was tired of them not sticking. Tired of trying again and again and again to find a spark. Now I had a raging inferno in my hands, and I wouldn't be able to settle for casual. There wasn't enough time in life to make me want that.
The same sort of silence had always come on our phone calls after I pitched her my crazy ideas, the ones she never stood behind. My heart hammered in my chest, but I didn't take the question back. Because we were grown adults and grown adults could figure this out.
“More.” She squeaked it out, cleared her throat, then said it again. “More. I want . . . I want more with you, Mark.”
“More.”
I repeated it almost breathlessly. She smiled and a hand came up to touch the side of my face. This all felt so fast. I woke up this morning worried about staring awkwardly at her while we lived under the same roof because I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Now I had permission to kiss her, to hold her, to . . .bewith her.
My mind spun.
“Me too,” I finally said.
Her smile illuminated her face, brightening her already doe-like eyes, and I lost all my willpower. In one step, I had her crushed against me again, our lips connected, bodies pressed until I didn't know where she started and I ended.
