“Doesn’t matter. You never let it hold you back. You never let anything hold you back.”
She huffs. “You heard what they said. Most of my relationships have only lasted a month.”
“I’m not surprised.”
She laughs and dips her chin down. I tip it up again, cupping the soft side of her face. When she meets my eyes, I say, “It wouldn’t be easy for you to find someone who can keep up with you. José’s fine, but you’reyou.”
She draws closer, impossibly closer. “Couldyoukeep up with me?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, my heart hammering. Here it is, just like Dottie said—the moment to take a leap. “But I know I’d enjoy trying.”
Her lips part, and in the distance, I hear someone shouting Nora’s name again.
She doesn’t look away from me. “That’s Pansy. There’s only one excuse she’ll accept for us running out on her like that.”
“Oh?”
A challenge glitters in her eyes. “It wouldn’t be unusual for a new couple to want to steal some alone time together.”
“No, it wouldn’t be unusual at all.”
Again, in the distance—“Nora!”
Her gaze holds mine, and I know I shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t kiss her, not if it’s all part of a game for her, another episode ofNora Takes Things Too Far, because this is more for me.
But she leans up and presses those lips to mine, and she tastes like ginger.
I’m not a man who likes making a display of himself. Most of the time, I’d prefer for people not to notice me at all. But right now, I don’t care about anyone or anything other than my ginger woman. I reach around to the back of her head, weaving my fingers into her hair and pulling her closer, my mouth moving easily with hers—as if all that practice I’ve been having in my dreams has taught me something.
It feels exquisite. I flex my hand in her soft hair, enjoying the feeling of it. She’s practically on my lap, and the only thing that would make me happier right now would be if she wereactuallyon my lap.
Someone nearby says something, but I don’t care. I’m completely unhinged with need, my mouth moving over hers, then tracing her jawline and the soft spot beneath her ear before finding her mouth again.
I wouldn’t care if Pansy were standing over us with a camera, ready to deliver the footage to my father, because Nora’s actually kissing me.
Nora wants me, at least for the moment, and that’s enough.
She edges closer, nuzzling me as our mouths move together, my glasses edged out of alignment so part of her face is blurry.
I register a shuffling sound in front of us only moments before water splashes onto our faces.
I gasp, finally breaking away from her, and when I look up, a silver-haired man in a newsboy cap is shaking his cane at us, gripping a water bottle in the other hand. “This is a decent place. Now get out of here before I call the cops.”
“Yes, sir.” My face is hot even though it’s drenched with water.
Nora laughs, her hand pressed to her slightly wet chest, and honestly,of courseshe’s laughing.
I’m fighting a smile myself as I help her up from the bench, her fingers squeezing mine conspiratorially.
“Sorry, sir,” I tell the man in the hat, who’s still glaring at us as if we’re teenage delinquents. He waits until we’re on our way before he finally turns, muttering under his breath, and ducks into Little Apple Books.
“So much for stopping in the bookstore,” I mutter to Nora. “Am I allowed to call him a little old man?”
She laughs again, her eyes bright with mischief. Her fingers are still linked with mine, and I lift them and place her palm against my chest.
God, she’s beautiful, and for a second I simply soak her in.
“You kissed me,” I say, expecting her to tell me it was just a joke, or a cover story for Pansy.
