Page 41 of For Butter or Worse

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She couldn’t finish the sentence, because this was still Leo. Yes, he was sexy, especially shirtless. But that didn’t erase their history. Even if their careers were at stake, was kissing him really going to fix anything?

“If you’re okay, I’m okay,” he finally said.

He’sokaywith kissing me, she told herself. There wasn’t anything passionate about someone feeling okay when it came to sharing a kiss. And that was totally, one-hundred-percent fine. The kiss didn’t need to have any significance beyond being part of their job. This didn’t have to mean anything.

So she nodded, and tilted her head up as a next step. One of his hands met her waist, while the other cupped the side of her face as he brought her in toward him.

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“Okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” she said firmly. But inside, her mind just raced with,holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

Then he dipped his head, she closed her eyes and...he kissed her. So soft and tentative, as if he was afraid to hurt her. She wasn’t even completely sure if she’d felt him there or had just imagined it. She instinctively reached a hand up to his shoulder and squeezed, which apparently was a signal for him to kiss her more deeply. The hand at her waist wrapped around her back as he pulled her in.

His lips were salty from the hike, and his stubble rubbed against the top of her mouth—two things she didn’t know could be sexy, but absolutely were. A low hum came from deep within her, and the sound caused his grip on her to tighten.

They were locked together. And there wasn’t a single piece of them that didn’t fit like they were always meant to be doing exactly this. She tried to remind herself that they were essentially actors, playing roles. But his mouth pressed into hers, and she couldn’t deny how good having all of him against her felt.

He abruptly pulled away, and muttered, “Sorry.”

Sorry? What was he sorry for? And then she realized, with much dread, that he was sorry because he’d wanted the kiss to end. He obviously sensed that she wasn’t pulling away fast enough, and so he was apologizing because he assumed she would’ve kept going. And maybe she would’ve, but still.

Could this date be any more humiliating? Sweating, nearly fainting and now...

His eyes darted behind her. “Mission accomplished,” he whispered into her ear. The closeness of his lips to her skin sent a shiver down her spine.

He nodded over her shoulder. When she turned, the cameraman was snapping away.

The first man she’d kissed since her ex, Charlie, and it had been for her job. Maybe worse, he’d had to forcibly pry her off him. No, actually, the worst part was how incredible the kiss had been.

She’d been hypnotized by his stupid waffle-iron abs and deliciously salty mouth. But then he’d pulled away when all she’d wanted was for him to keep going. He probably thought she was pathetic.

“Can you make it back down?” Leo asked. “I could go grab some food and hike back up, if you’re feeling light-headed.”

She nodded, not wanting to meet his eyes. She had to get off this mountain and away from Leo. The dirt path ahead of them was clear but endless. Even without knowing where the path would lead, she knew there was nowhere to go but down.

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NINA LYON AND LEO O’DONNELL