Page 53 of A Me and You Thing
“Me too.”
“What made you decide to cook?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“It worked.” His huge smile appears.
“Not in the way I wanted.”
“You don’t need to take care of me, Breezy. Taking care of the girls is enough. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders the day you arrived. I don’t tell you that enough.”
“I’m selfish. I did it for me.”
His fingers touch my lips, and my body goes still. I think the blood even pauses in my veins. “Shhhhhh. That’s not true. It was an entirely unselfish act done out of love for Quinn.”
He holds my gaze. Neither one of us avert our eyes. I’m not sure what’s happening, I only know that this is a turning point. The one I’ve been waiting for.
“And... you.” I say it so softly, I wonder if he hears.
“What?”
“You. I did it for you.”
His eyes leave mine and look down at his fingers lightly touching my lips. My lips part as my breath whispers against his fingertips. His eyes travel back up to mine and I see so much uncertainty, it scares me. It’s almost akin to a deer in headlights. My heart sinks. It’s too soon. Still. The man is nothing if not loyal. He’s one of those people who loves once in their life—and never again. I shouldn’t have said anything.
He swallows. Hard. “Uh... there’s a few small pieces of glass in your hair. I’ll get a comb and brush them out. Be right back.”
I stay rooted to the spot. My breath is shaky and my hands are tingly. I know he feels something for me. I know it. But he still wants Quinn.
And I’m not her. I never will be.
I hear him greeting the girls in the living room amidst little squeals and giggles. I love how excited they are to see their father. I feel the same.
He returns with a comb in hand. “I think I can get most of it out. Then I think a shower is in order, just to be on the safe side.”
He starts on one side, gently starting at my scalp, then working the comb through my long strands. He takes his time, running his hands through my hair after each swipe of the comb. He’s not just getting glass out of my hair, and we both know it.
When he’s worked his way all the way around my head, he stands in front of me. “Can you tilt your head back?”
I do. He runs his hands through my scalp and then follows down the length of the strands of my hair, ensuring there’s no more glass. I feel his sweet breath on my face. I open my eyes to find that he’s so close, our lips are only a heartbeat away. Even though he continues to run his hands through my hair, his eyes remain glued to mine.
He’s so close, but so very far. I can see the indecision in his expression, as if he’s battling with himself.
So I make the decision for him. I barely have to move an inch. I press my lips to his and hold them there.
He doesn’t respond at first and I begin to wonder if he will. But then it’s as if a dam breaks inside of him and I feel him let loose. All at once, his arms pull me against his body as my back arches sharply and his hands tangle in my hair. The kiss turns from soft and tentative to fast and hard. It feels more like an explosion than a first kiss because emotions are bursting out of nowhere and expressing themselves in this one single act. He’s kept his feelings bottled up for so long. Now they’re all being released. Our mouths open to each other and the kiss turns desperate, almost frantic.
And I love it. Every single moment of being loved by him is sweet. Even in this crazy, wild instance when we can’t stop kissing as if we’re two teenagers alone for the first time in a dark car.
But every wave eventually swells and crashes on the shore. So does the ebb and flow of our kiss. It ends just as fast and abruptly as it started. We’re still entwined with each other, breathing in each other’s breath, overcome with the sudden emotions that have overtaken us.
“What are we doing?” he says.
“Falling in love,” I tell him.
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You can. We’ll take it slow.”
