“I…I thought about it a lot when we first met. But once I realized…”
He placed a finger over her lips to stop her. “The rest of that statement doesn’t matter. I think we need to do this—let ourselves have this kiss—so we can say we’ve done it and then we can move on.”
“Um…I don’t think it works like that. What if it’s a great kiss?”
He laughed softly, caressing her cheek again. “Oh, it’s going to be a great kiss. I have a feeling it’s going to be the greatest kiss I’ve ever had.”
Now she did sigh dreamily. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“But…what happens…after? I don’t know how to just go back to us being friends if it’s a great kiss.”
“Me either. But I’m so far gone, Evie, that I need to try.”
Okay, she could stand here and hold her moral ground and say no, but she knew she’d regret it for the rest of her life.
“This could ruin our friendship,” she whispered.
But Slater shook his head. “I refuse to let that happen. You’re too important to me.” He paused. “Think of this as part of the adventure you were going to have while you were away from home.”
The laugh was out before she could stop it. “So now you’re an adventure?”
“Sweetheart, if you’d let me, I could be the greatest adventure of your life.”
Oh, my…
Did she want the greatest adventure or did she want the safe friendship?
“What do you say, Evie? One kiss. One kiss, and then we'll go parasailing. Or we go up in the seaplane and see the mountains. Or…one kiss and then maybe another. And then another.”
She nervously chewed her bottom lip for a moment, and the way Slater’s gaze homed in on it gave her a thrill.
I’m tired of playing it safe. It’s gotten me nowhere.
“Slater?”
“Hmm?”
“Kiss me.”
His smile was lethal as he reached up and cupped her face with both hands. He lowered his head slowly, as if he were giving her time to change her mind, but she didn’t. She wouldn’t.
And when his lips touched hers, Evie grabbed the front of his shirt and held on for dear life.
Chapter Four
Slater knew the moment Evie clutched the front of his shirt and he felt her nails gently scoring his chest that he was in trouble.
He’d never had a problem kissing a beautiful woman, but this was the first time he was kissing someone he had some very real feelings for. Not that he was that much of an ass that he didn’t have feelings for the women he kissed or slept with, but this was different.
This was Evie.
His friend.
His coffee-obsessed buddy.
The girl he could just be himself with.
