Page 2 of Any Second Now
I should definitely stop talking. Immediately.
“Like what?” Her voice shakes the slightest bit, and her eyes roam my face.
Like what, indeed. I don’t really have a plan here. Just want to make her sad expression go away.
I lean forward and down until my lips lightly brush against her earlobe. She intakes a sharp breath.
“I still want to kiss you.” I lightly touch her hip in a mostly appropriate way. In a way that if someone looked over at us, they might think I’m leaning in because the music is so loud and we can hardly hear each other.
She swallows as I lean back, and I watch her throat bob.
“Fine then.” Raleigh tips her chin up.
“Fine then?” I search her face. She didn’t just agree to?—
“Yeah. Let’s get it out of your system.”
Shedidjust agree.
My jaw drops. “What?”
“Come on.” Raleigh grabs my hand and turns, pulling me behind her. She deposits her empty champagne glass on a small round table, and I do the same.
Is she dragging me away to kiss me?
No way.
That’s not what’s happening.
But she’s leading me around the small stage and DJ stand to a dark nook where there’s no people, just tangles of cords and empty bins. She only stops when we get to the wall, where she spins around, still holding my hand.
“I might be a little drunk. But I want to forget things tonight.” Her hand trembles almost imperceptibly in mine. “And kissing you might help me do that. Maybe I can spend the next year regretting this kiss instead of my marriage, who knows.”
I press my lips together to suppress a grin, then lean a hand against the wall above her head and dip my chin down toward her. Raleigh’s lips are a deep pink, her red lipstick long worn off, but her natural color is just as sexy. I push a strand of her hair, curled for the dressy New Year’s Eve celebration, off her forehead. My fingers graze the side of her face and my heart thumps in my chest like a bass drum. A slight flare to her nostrils shows our proximity is affecting her as much as it’saffecting me.
Thank god for the drinks I had—the ones that Coach Jackson and our team captain will make me regret tomorrow. It’s pathetic, but I want to project confidence, and the alcohol is helping. I’m a star NHL player, but around Raleigh? I feel anything but confident.
“You sure, Raleigh?” My voice practically cracks. I sound like a teenage boy. Fuck.
“It’s just this one time.” Raleigh puts her hands lightly on my waist. “Because it’s New Year’s Eve and the night feels, well, kinda special.”
She’s right. There is something in the air. It crackles around us. There’s still a whole damn party going on in this ballroom, but I’d also believe it’s just me and Raleigh standing here tucked behind the stage of an empty room.
“Once, and never again.” I nod.
“Never again,” she says, but neither of us move. A crooked smile crosses her face.
“Don’t be chicken, Atticus.” She tugs at my waist.
I chuckle. “I’m not chicken.”
The things I want to do to this woman. My eyes flit to her bare neck and the deep V of her dress, which dips between her breasts.
But this is Lucy’s best friend.
Someone I’ve known for so long. This is a line I’ve always wanted to cross, but never dared. There are a lot of reasons this has never happened. And for a guy who never gets involved with any woman, kissing Raleigh is anything but simple.
“Atticus. You’re overthinking. That’s my job,” she huffs.
