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“Zoey...”
She didn’t answer, just stared at the linen closet behind him.
“Zoey.”
Her gaze snapped up to meet his. He wanted her. He wanted his lips on hers. He wanted his arms around her. But he couldn’t ignore thoseDangersigns flashing in his brain. She ran the tip of her tongue along her lower lip, and he let out a low groan. He was tired of being afraid.
“You’re killing me here, girl.” He rested his hands on her hips. “What are we doing?”
“I think...” Her voice was raspy. “Whether we should or not. I think we’re going to kiss each other.”
Kissing her would put thirty years of friendship on the line. He didn’t know if it was worth the risk. He only knew it was going to happen. Right now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
OH, GOD. OH, GOD. Oh, God.
Zoey’s heart began to flail around in her chest.
Mike McKinnon’s going to kiss me.
A shudder ran from her toes to her scalp. He must have felt it passing under his fingers where he gripped her hips, because he smiled. This wasn’t Mike’s joking smile, or his friendly smile, or even his whiskey smile. This was a smile she wasn’t familiar with. This smile was pure sexual attraction. Confident. Predatory. From anyone else, that would be a turnoff, but coming from Mike?Yes, please.
“Zoey...” He kept doing that—repeating her name, as if it was all he could think to say. She was having the same problem, so she waited for him to continue. Or just say her name again, with that sexy growl in his voice. He closed his eyes, and that seemed to help him come up with more words. “Is that what you want? For me to kiss you?”
All she could manage was a nod. But that was all Mike needed. Just the briefest of touches was enough to make her forget everything but the sensation of his mouth brushing against hers. Back and forth. Back and forth. Each pass brought him closer, until his mouth held hers. They both froze. This was it. The line had been crossed.
His hand slid up her back, pulling her against his solid body. Her own hands had been just hanging there at her sides until now. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and suddenly the kiss shifted from tentative to urgent. She wasn’t sure which of them instigated it, but their mouths crashed hard against each other now. Their heads turned to allow more access, and his tongue pressed its way into her mouth.
He turned and held her against the wall, his hand now working around to her front. Under her T-shirt. Hot against her skin. Brushing the bottom of her breasts. That was the touch that made her flinch. The passion rising in her was too much. The sensation. The emotion. The desire to have their bodies entwined together without any cumbersome clothing in the way.
But damn it, this was Mike McKinnon.
Mike felt her turmoil, and let out only the smallest groan as he pulled away from the kiss. She was mortified when she felt herself rising up on her toes to maintain contact, but he stopped her with his hands, now back on her hips, holding her steady. He was staring at her, his eyes dark and conflicted. She knew just how he felt.
“Definitely worth it.”
She barely heard his words as they brushed past against her cheek. It took her a moment to make sense of them, and a chill ran across her skin when she did. He was telling himself the kiss was worth the risk to their friendship. That gave her a brief burst of pride, which evaporated as soon as she thought about what they’d just done. She shook her head slowly, feeling a wave of sadness.
“We’ll never be the same again.”
The words hurt him. She saw it in the way the skin around his eyes tightened. The way his hands released her. She reached up to touch his cheek.
She tried to smile, but her lips trembled. “I’m not saying that as a bad or good thing. It’s just the truth. We can’t possibly be the same after kissing like that. It was an amazing kiss, but...” She had to ask the question that kept poking at her. “What have we done?”
His forehead furrowed deeply. He jammed his fingers through his hair and took another step back. “That’s a damn good question, isn’t it? I don’t want to ruin what we have...”
“But you said it was worth it.”
“Well, yeah.” A mix of humor and heat flared in his eyes. “Andyoucalled itamazing.”
“It was.”
The LED lanterns lay on the floor, on their sides, casting a gray light up the walls. She hadn’t even noticed that they’d both dropped them during the kiss. They’d been so eager to be as close to each other as possible. For better or worse, shestillfelt that way. But Mike’s gaze cooled and he glanced away. The moment was broken.
“I think—” he pressed his mouth into a thin, straight line “—the question is notwhat have we done, butwhat do we do now?” He looked down the hall toward her father’s room. “And this doesn’t feel like the best place or time to figure that out. We should both get some sleep. Behind closed doors.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “Away from temptation.”
She could always rely on Mike for a calm, reasonable examination of any situation. She, on the other hand, was a tangle of emotions wrestling each other right under the surface of her skin. She could use a little alone time to sort them out. She reached down for her lantern and held it high, as if it was an old-fashioned candle, and did her best to smile.
