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That was it. I pulled my hand out of his and thumped him. His grin widened—if it was even possible to be wider than he was already grinning—as he cupped my face and kissed me.
Not a sweet, gentle kiss, but a hard, fierce kiss. It was all tongue, teeth, and heat. It was impossible not to kiss him back or to fist his shirt. My wrist protested when I tried to reach for him with my right hand and then had to set it down, but he chased my tongue with such a singular focus, I almost forgot I’d been irritated with him.
Almost.
In between biting nips, I panted, “This doesn’t mean I’m not mad.”
“I know,” he said before closing the gap and sealing his lips to mine. Heat scorched through my system. Archie tasted like chocolate and coffee. With a groan, I moved to stand, and he pulled back and straightened.
“Hey…”
“Hey,” I answered with a breath before straddling his lap, placing one knee on either side of his thighs on the bench. It put my head a little above his. “You don’t get to win disagreements with kisses.”
“Okay,” he said, tracing my lips with his gaze before lifting his eyes to study me. “Can I win them with my tongue? I got some advice earlier…”
Laughter burst through me, and I tilted my head back. “You’re impossible.”
“No, Frankie, I’m infinitely possible. But I love to make you smile and to laugh…”
“…and to piss me off,” I mocked him.
“Sometimes,” he admitted, squeezing my hips gently. “I hate it when you’re sad or lost or lonely. When you push back, when you’re fighting, you get so demanding. It’s hot.”
“What am I going to do with you?”
“Keep me?” Archie suggested.
I huffed out a breath and squinted at him like I needed to think about it. “I suppose.”
“Yousuppose?” Outrage blossomed in his voice, but even in the near dark of the garden with its solar lamps scattered around, the gleam in his eyes was clear as day.
“Yeah, I mean, it would be kind of cruel to kick you when you were down.”
Eyes narrowed and lips twitching, he asked, “How am I down?”
“Well, you’re a man on a mission, worried about spending all your money before it’s taken away for what, four or five whole days before your birthday?”
A snort escaped him. “Practically pathetic.”
“Right. And I couldn’t do it on your birthday.”
“No, that would be cruel,” he agreed.
“So…I suppose I’ll keep you.” But I couldn’t resist tweaking him a little. “For now.”
His mouth slammed against mine as he slid a hand up to fist my hair, and I didn’t resist for a second. This was exactly the response I’d been looking for.
“You know what, babe?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re…”
The gentle clearing of a throat quieted him, and he leaned slightly sideways to glance behind me.
“Yes, Jeremy?”
My face heated, but I didn’t turn around.
