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“Good friends don’t avoid each other,” she said, inching closer still. She could see his pulse pounding in his neck, feel the brush of his chest against hers, smell that fresh bergamot and cedar scent. She inhaled deeply. “You smell delectable.”
“Ari.” His voice was tight, and she couldn’t tell if her idea was backfiring or not.
“Yes?” She tried to sound extra sweet as she wrapped both her hands tight around his neck and arched up onto her tiptoes, leaning into him.
His eyes widened. “You are not acting like an angel.”
Ari laughed. She felt decidedly un-angel-like, pushing him to hold her. Why wouldn’t he wrap his arms around her and hold her close? Darn his self-restraint. Or were her fears true, and he simply wasn’t interested in her?
Instead of backing away as she probably should, she ignored all his signals, pulled his head down closer to hers, and softly kissed the left side of his mouth.
Brad pulled in a quick breath, and then he wrapped his arms tight around her and pulled her clean off her feet. The world spun in the best way.
Arianna slowly, achingly brushed her lips across his and kissed the other side of his mouth.
He held her tight, and she waited for him to capture her mouth. She needed him to prove he returned her feelings, that she wasn’t simply forcing herself on him.
“Ari,” he ground out. She felt the words against her lips. “Good friends don’t kiss each other.”
Disappointment swirled in her, but she wasn’t ready to quit. Not yet. He hadn’t set her down. That was a good sign. “Brave Brad. You are so much more than a good friend to me.”
“What am I?” His golden eyes fastened on her as he held her tightly to him.
“You’re my friend.” She softly kissed his lips but drew back just as quick.
His eyes were wide, his breath coming fast.
“You’re my fondest dream—day and night.” She kissed him again, longer this time. He started to return the kiss but she pulled back, wanting to taunt, tease, and capture him completely.
“You’re the love of my life.” Arching up to him, she pressed her lips to his. She kissed him with all the love and pent-up longing stored inside her, and she refused to back away.
Brad returned the kiss. Oh, how he returned it. He held her as if she were his world and kissed her as if the sun would not come up tomorrow. He kissed away the darkness of the night and the pain and yearning of the last eight years.
Eventually, he pulled back and stared at her. His eyes were full of wonder, love, hope …
Itwasa Christmas miracle.
Then he set her on her feet and bent down close to her. “Curses, Ari. What are you doing to me?”
She smiled and arched up to kiss him again. He had clearly spent far too much time with Mason. “I’m doing what I was meant to do. Loving you.”
Brad dipped her low and kissed her until she knew he loved her, knew it from her lips clear down to her toes.
Many, many minutes later, he pulled back. Then he did something wrong. So wrong she couldn’t even find the words to protest. He ushered her to her bedroom, gently nudged her in, then stepped back out of the doorframe.
“Brad?” she asked.
She wanted to kiss the night away. To hear that he loved her back in words. To know why he’d left and to hear his promise that he’d never, ever leave again.
“Ari, I can’t do this to you again.” He stood ramrod straight, though the angst on his face showed he wanted to be pacing—or fighting someone. “I’m sorry, but I’m not the right one for you. Mason is.”
“I don’t want Mason. I want you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. If you knew why I left, what I’ve been through, how I’ve changed, how unworthy of you I am…” He shook his head. “Please. Get the idea of us being together out of your head. It’s not right for either of us.”
Her mouth hung open, her heart threatening to fracture. “Tell me why you left so we can work it out.”
“No,” was all he said. At any moment, he would grab the door and close it on any hope of a future.
