Page 44 of The One I Love
“Kiss me.”
He inches closer to me. “Are you sure?”
I nod. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my entire life.”
That’s all he needs to hear before he slowly comes to me, his lips finding mine in the most perfect kiss I think has ever existed. His hands softly cup my face, holding me to him as our tongues start working in tandem, sending a mixture of heat and chills through my body. I felt this the night of the wedding, butI chalked it up to shock and being a little drunk. Now the only thing I’m drunk on is Shane and his kiss.
And I think I’m absolutely addicted.
I open my mouth and our tongues meet, deepening the kiss in the most exquisite way. My hands suddenly have a mind of their own as they start traveling around Shane’s muscular back and up his defined arms. He does, as well, and I’m trying to lean into his touch while also enjoying the feel of Shane. I’ve never wanted to explore a man before. I’ve never wondered what was underneath the shirt, or what his arms would feel like if I held onto them while he was inside me. But with Shane, I want to know. I want to know everything.
“Amelia…”
I grow bold by the sound of my name on Shane’s tongue. It was a mixture of a moan and a plea, and it sounded so damn sexy coming from his mouth. My hands start traveling farther, across his pecs and down his chest until they come to the metal and leather of his belt. I do my best not to break the kiss as I start unfastening it, until his strong hands are on mine stopping me.
“Amelia, what are you doing?”
I hurry and find his eyes because now I’m scared that I misread all of this. I knew I was bad at this, but I didn’t realize I was so bad I couldn’t even tell when a man didn’t want me to take off his pants.
“I’m…did you not want this?”
“Of course I do,” he says, cupping my face yet again. “But do you? I don’t want to push you too far and too fast. Don’t think we have to do this because I want to. I’ve waited my whole life for tonight. I’d wait another lifetime if that’s what you need.”
I shake my head as I reach for him. We kiss each otherwithout hesitation. And for the first time in weeks, I feel confident that what I want is what I also need.
“I want this. I want this so much.”
Just as I feel Shane about to lift me in his arms, I hear the sound of a text message from my phone.
“I’m sorry,” I say, pulling away to grab it. “With the kids, I never know….it’s Mariah.”
Shane tenses next to me. “Is she okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. She’s staying at Gabby’s tonight. They want to order food, and she was asking if she could use my card.”
“It’s nice that she asked.”
I laugh under my breath as I tap out a response to her. “That’s only because a few months ago she went rogue and ordered a few hundred dollars’ worth of makeup without my permission.”
“Holy shit!”
“Yup. So now if I find one transaction I don’t know about, she doesn’t have her phone for a month.”
“Fuck around and find out,” Shane says, smiling and sitting back on the couch, his arm casually around me as I wrap up my texting with Mariah. “I can get on board with that.”
“This girl is going to either be the death of me or drive me broke. Probably both.” I put my phone down and fall back into the couch. “Luke was never like this. Hell, tonight he’s having an all-night video game session at a friend's house. To most seventeen-year-olds, that would be code for getting drunk in a field somewhere.”
“That’s what we’d have done.”
“Exactly. But not Luke. He’s exactly where he should be. He’d feel bad using my card to buy gas for errands I asked him to run. Mariah? That girl…”
I let my head fall into Shane’s shoulder as he gently runs his fingers down my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“That killed the mood.”
“What do you mean?”
