Page 75 of One Midnight Kiss

“I think that’s a dangerous question.”

I got busy, assembling piece by piece. I was tempted to hang it up sideways, just to see the look on her face.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Natalia said, kneeling next to me with a screw in her hand.

I looked up at her, feigning offense. “You’re questioning my skills?”

She gave me a look that could’ve melted ice. “You’re about to attach the side panel backward.”

“Maybe I’m doing it on purpose. Ever consider that?”

She rolled her eyes, snatching the instruction manual out of my hand. I leaned back on my heels, watching her for a moment before reaching for one of her books, the kind she kept hidden on the top shelf where no one would see. I flipped it open, reading a passage out loud.

“‘He pinned her against the wall, his breath hot against her neck⁠—’”

Natalia lunged for the book, yanking it out of my hand before I got to the good part. I laughed, pulling her back to me. She fell into my lap, her eyes wide, and I kissed her.

“Are you done?” she asked, breathless, when I finally pulled back.

“Not even close,” I murmured, pinning her to the floor, feeling the heat of her body through the thin fabric of the shirt she was wearing.

She pushed at my chest, but there was no real force behind it.

“What did you get me for Christmas?” I asked her.

“It’s a surprise,” she said, grinning.

I shook my head and chuckled. “Liar. You didn’t buy me anything.”

She laughed and nodded. “Surprise!”

“You know what I want,” I said with a goofy grin. “And it won’t cost you a dime.”

“I’m never giving you my number, Fox.”

“You will, one day.”

She rolled her eyes, but there was a softness there that hadn’t been before. A crack in the wall she kept around herself. I could feel it and suspected she did as well. There was a pull between us that we couldn’t ignore.

We stayed like that for a long moment with her in my arms. It was the quiet moments like this that got to me. The way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

“You really think I’m going to give you my number?” she asked softly.

“Yeah,” I said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I remain optimistic.”

“You’re impossible,” she whispered, but there was no bite in her words.

“I know.”

I kissed her again. She didn’t pull away. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was an agreement. The start of something neither of us could put a name to just yet.

But it was there, and it was real, and for once in my life, I wasn’t going to run from it.

She sat up. “Let’s get this thing done,” she said.

I nodded, eager to prove my competence both with the shelves and with her. After an hour of laughter, wrong turns with misplaced screws, and Natalia’s occasional guidance, we stood back to admire the fully assembled bookshelf.

“It’s not crooked,” I said, pride in my voice.

“It’s actually pretty perfect,” Natalia admitted, scrutinizing our handiwork from different angles.

“You doubted me?” I teased, bumping her shoulder lightly with mine.

“So much,” she said. “But you came through.”

“I feel like this work deserves some kind of a reward.”

She rolled her eyes. “You think so?”

I nodded and turned to face her with my hands dropping to her waist. “You know you want to.”