Page 63 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

kiss on a woman, let alone in front of a crowd. Leah nods eventually,

though, and I pull her closer with my hands, brushing her sides and

landing on her tailbone. I hold her closer to me while our lips meet in

a warm, fiery kiss.

Her tongue brushes mine, the sensation damning and daunting at

the same time. She moans into my lips and kisses me deeper, my

hands nearly grabbing at her ass if not for the intrusive cheering of

the onlookers.

I peek through my shut eyes long enough to see Ryan dragging

Farrah out of the bar, but I don’t care about them.

Instead, I watch Leah as she melts into my hold, as she’s overcome

with this kiss, and as we both realize this might not be what we had

imagined when we agreed to this deal.

But fate has other plans, I guess.

COSMIC CONNECTION

Leah

I feel sick as we step off the stage, the warm kiss is the only thing that

keeps my mind awake and aware in this moment. Percy holds my

hand tightly, his fingers curled over mine while whisking us both into

the back room, the little cot and small sink coming back into view.

It’s cold back here, a draft of Arkansas wind somehow slithering

through the split wood floors and the uneven tin walls. I didn’t notice

it before, but the tin material of the building and the copper pipes

overhead smell so heavily of rust that I nearly trip over the discovery

of this pungent odor.

Percy finally stops his quick pace, taking on a seat on the side of a

black, torn leather couch. Unsure why this room even exists, I sit

down beside him, the bar playing a low hum of radio music while the

people settle after the sudden excitement of our proposal.

Looking at my hands, I play with the ring that now sits on my left

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