“Maybe, but she’s so busy all the time. And your mom certainly shouldn’t be doing it.” He shrugged one shoulder, giving her a sheepish grin. “I hate to say it, but Mallory wouldn’t want me falling out of a tree.”
“You wear a safety harness.”
A sigh of frustration escaped him before he could stop it. “Has anybodyeverwon an argument with you?”
She thought for a few seconds before frowning. “I guess Mallory has, because I told her I wasn’t coming back to Stonefield, and yet here I am.”
“Okay.” It was time to try something else before she went too far down the path of remembering she was grumpy about being back in their hometown. “What if I call Mallory right now and ask her if she cares if I kiss you?”
Gwen’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He laughed and started reaching for his pocket. “A dare, Gwen?”
“No.” Her hand grabbed his wrist before he could get his phone. “Not a dare. I didnotmean that.”
He noticed she hadn’t let go of his wrist and he wasn’t about to draw attention to the fact she was still touching him. “Because you know she won’t care and you’ll lose your excuse not to kiss me.”
“I don’t need an excuse. I can just say no.”
“You absolutelycansay no, and if you do, I won’t bring it up again.” He waited, giving her the opportunity to say it, but she neither said no nor let go of his wrist. “Or you can kiss me and we can both stop losing sleep wondering what it would feel like.”
“Fine.” When she tugged on his wrist and closed the gap between them, tilting her head back, he knew she was going to go about this in a Gwen kind of way—fast and to the point, and then she’d move on.
He wasn’t going to let that happen. They were going to do this Case’s way.
And Case’s way was to slide one hand over her hip and with the other, he cupped the back of her neck. The first touch of his lips against hers was electric, and he felt the buzz throughout his entire body. She leaned in, her mouth softening under his, and he wished her hair was down so he could bury his fingers in it.
Taking his sweet time, he devoured her. Kissing her. Breathing with her. Dipping his tongue between her lips before catching her bottom lip gently between his teeth. Then deepening the kiss and demanding more. He never wanted the kiss to end, and judging by the way Gwen’s body melted against his, she was okay with that.
Then her phone vibrated in her pocket and, with their bodies pressed together as they were, the sudden buzzing startled them both.
They were both breathing heavily and her cheeks were flushed a deep red as she took a step back. And he noticed her hands were shaking as she pulled out her phone, and when she made an annoyed sound and rolled her eyes, Case chuckled.
“Evie?”
She looked at him, the look of a woman who’d just been thoroughly kissed only slightly marred by the way her eyebrows drew together. “How did you know?”
“You made yourEvieface. A little exasperation. Rolling of the eyes. Lips pressed together like you want to say something but won’t.” He didn’t mention that it was extra cute because her lips were slightly puffy from him nibbling on them. “You’re a lot more neutral when it’s Mallory, and when it’s Ellen, it’s a much more affectionate exasperation than with Evie.”
“Clearly you missed your calling as a professional poker player. So, Mr. Know-It-All, what face do I make when the text is fromyou?”
“I don’t know because I’m not usually in the same room with you when I send a text. It’s kind of the point.” Pulling his phone out, he sent her a message, after making sure he wasn’t accidentally sending it to the group’s ongoing conversation.
See? This makes no sense.
Since she was looking at her phone—probably trying to read the message from Evie—he knew the instant the notification with his name on it popped up on the screen.
“Okay, so when it’s me,” he said, “your face gets a little flushed and you catch your bottom lip with your teeth, trying not to smile, but you can’t help yourself.”
She shot him a stern look. “Case.”
“Hey, you asked.”
“I have to go deal with Evie.” She was between him and the stairs and backing away, so it didn’t look like he was going to get a goodbye kiss. “You can’t tell anybody about this.”
“I wasn’t going to take out an ad in theGazette.” He dipped his head into a little shrug. “They always need content for their Facebook page, though.”
“This isn’t funny, Case.”
