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I’m going to kiss this man, I promised myself.Somehow, some way.He is going to be my first real kiss.
When we neared the stables, Bash grabbed my hand again and gestured for me to follow him halfway down the row of stalls to the spot where a pretty brown horse with a white starburst on her forehead stuck her head out curiously, like she’d been waiting for us.
“Ohhhh,” I breathed. “How gorgeous.”
“She is.” Bash reached out to stroke the horse’s nose. “These stables house more than the polo ponies. Several people keep their thoroughbreds here because of the trainers and facilities… Hey, sweet girl. I want you to meet a friend. Rowe, this is Starlight. Starlight, Rowe.”
“How do you know her?” I asked before reaching out a tentative hand to rub the side of her neck. “You said you liked polo, but do you ride?”
“I do.” He hesitated. “Silas and I have been friends with Dev since college, and Dev’s a renowned horse trainer… among other things.”
“Oh.” Bash’s answer explained why he’d been able to introduce me to these guys. It also probably explained how he’d gotten the job with Sterling Chase in the first place. He had connections to two of Sterling’s—my—trusted board members.
“Where’d you go to college?” I asked just as Starlight swung her head around and pushed it into my face.
I hadn’t realized how close I’d gotten to the horse while following Bash’s lead, and I stumbled backward with a little yelp. Thankfully, Bash grabbed me before I got accidentally knocked down by another horse being led down the center aisle of the stables.
“Fuck,” I croaked, trying my best not to let my fear of the giant animals overwhelm me. “That horse is reallyexceptionallylarge.” I’d never been comfortable around livestock despite living near lots of farmland, a fact that Daisy used to tease me about constantly.
“Woah. Easy,” Bash said, grabbing me out of the aisle and pulling me close. The warmth of his breath landed on my cheek, causing all the little hairs on my body to stand on end, and when I tried to suck in a breath to calm myself, I ended up inhaling Bash’s expensive cologne… which had the opposite effect to what I’d intended. “Starlight,” he chided the horse softly, “didn’t anyone ever teach you to play hard to get? You can’t just get right in a man’s face and try to kiss him like that.”
“Can’t you?” I mumbled without thinking, taking another deep, drugging lungful of Bash’s delicious scent.
A loud bang came from a stall door down the aisle, making me jump and Starlight blow out her cheeks with a disgruntled noise. My lips accidentally grazed the edge of Bash’s jaw when I startled, and Bash’s arms tightened around me in response. Our eyes met, and the air thickened around us.
What is this?I wanted to climb him, to kiss him, to full-out beg him to touch me anywhere and everywhere. My brain was clearly not looking out for my best interests since the last thing I needed to do was fuck things up with this guy and his rich friends, but I couldn’t help myself.I brushed my lips across his jaw again, so softly it was almost like a phantom touch.
Suddenly, Bash’s mouth crashed down on mine with firm possession, stealing the breath from my lungs and sending every drop of blood on the express train out of my brain and into my pants.
“Oh,” I whimpered against his mouth. “Oh.”
All I could think wasyes. This. Now I understand.
This was what all the fuss was about.
This was what I’d been missing.
Kissing Bash was like having a portal open up to another world. A world where things were brighter, more colorful, and just all around… better.
My hands fisted in his shirt, and I realized I was pressing myself against him as desperately as I could. Was that bad? Was it okay? Was he having a kind of mental situation in which he was no longer in control of his own lips? Otherwise, why would a man like that be kissing a man like me? It made absolutely no sense.
“You’re killing me,” he murmured under his breath before his tongue snuck into my mouth and took ownership of the place.
My dick was leaking. It had to be. I was going to humiliate myself further with a giant wet spot on the front of the clearance rack designer jeans I wore. I was going to get arrested for public indecency, and the stupid story would get picked up by that tabloid that people read on the subway, and I’d be ruined.Burrito Bandito Gets Extra Spicy on the Polo Field.
I honestly didn’t care. Kissing Bash was worth any creepy headline, especially when his hands moved down to cup my ass and pull me even closer. I groaned into the kiss and ground my hardening dick into his thigh. This was pure nirvana.
But when Bash’s hand moved down to cup my hip, I froze. His fingers had brushed over my tattoo, the exact same spot I always touched to ground myself, and when my sister’s image flashed through my mind, I pulled sharply, guiltily away.
Where the fuck are your priorities, Rowe Prince?
“Sorry,” I said, pulling back and heaving in some air. “Fuck. I—”
“That was a mistake,” Bash said in a low, gruff voice. He backed up half a pace. “Won’t happen again.”
I blinked. I mean, yes, he was right; it shouldn’t happen again. Not while I was lying. Not while I still needed his help. But I had to wonder whyhewas pulling away.
“Did I… do it wrong?” I wondered. “It’s okay. You can be honest.”
