Page 80 of Merry Me
He gave a roguish grin. “Then I’m honor bound by mistletoe laws alone. It’s sacred. Can’t break tradition.”
“You’re impossible,” I groaned, stepping closer despite myself. “One kiss. Quick. Like, peck-level quick. Like blink-and-you-miss-it quick.”
He didn’t move. Just smiled that slow, cocky smile…the kind that made me want to kiss him and punch him in equal measure. “So do it, then.”
I blinked. “What?”
He tilted his head, infuriatingly smug. “You said one kiss. Sounds like a dare to me. Go on, Trouble. Take it.”
Oh, he was the worst. The absolute worst.
So obviously…I did.
I leaned in, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest and the heat of his breath against mine. His scent—peppermint and something woodsy and infuriatinglyEaston—wrapped around me, softening every edge of my resolve.
And then I kissed him.
Soft. Teasing. Barely there.
It wasn’t what I expected…not a fireworks-and-exclamation-point kind of kiss. More like an ellipsis. A breath. A sentence that wasn’t finished.
But he didn’t move, didn’t lean in. Just stood there, letting me take it.
And somehow,thatrattled me more.
When I pulled back, my heart doing something uncoordinated in my chest, he was smiling. Still smug. Still annoyingly gorgeous.
But there was something gentler in it now. Something that made my breath catch.
“That wasn’t so terrible, right?” he murmured, still far too close.
“You didn’t even kiss me back,” I said before I could stop myself—and then immediately wishing I’d swallowed my tongue.
His eyebrows rose, that infuriating sparkle back in his eyes. “Oh. Sonowyou want participation?” he asked, pointing upward. “Because technically…we’re still under the mistletoe.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re a full-time problem with part-time charm.”
“And yet, you haven’t walked away.”
I hesitated, biting my lip. He was too close. Too familiar in all the wrong ways. And the ache in my chest reminded me exactly why this was so dangerous.
Because Easton Maddox still had an irritatingly strong gravitational pull, and I was dangerously close to orbiting. One more second in his presence, and I was going to need NASA to extract me from his stupidly magnetic field.
I took a steadying breath, trying to convince myself I was in control of this situation and not, in fact, one ill-timed look away from launching myself into his arms.
I met his gaze. “Fine. One more. But just to prove I’m not flustered.”
His smile deepened, turning wicked and slow, like he already knew how this scene ended. “Sounds fair.”
I stepped back into him—only because I had something to prove, obviously—and braced my hands on his chest, trying not to notice how solid it was beneath my palms. His head dipped, his breath warm and mint-tinged against my mouth. And then he kissed me.
Properly.
No teasing this time. No skimming lips or breathy flutters. This was a kiss built to undo me…slow and thorough, his tongue brushing the seam of my mouth until I gasped, and he slid inside like he owned the place.
I melted.
There was no other word for it. My entire body sighed into him like it had just remembered what it felt like to be touched like this. My fingers curled in the fabric of his shirt, tugging him closer as he deepened the kiss, coaxing my mouth open wider,stealing breath and logic and every ounce of common sense I had left.
