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Body snatcher alert.
But when those slender arms loop around my neck, they’re oh so familiar.
This.Yeah. This is how it feels to have Violet Moore against my chest: this is her berry scent and her soft warmth, andthatis her foot stepping on mine. It’s all perfect once again, and everything is right with the universe.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.” Violet huffs, like I’m tricking her into stepping on my toes somehow. We turn in slow circles, too far away fromthe music to follow a beat. “Maybe if you didn’t have such giant clown feet, I wouldn’t step on them.”
“Way to victim-blame. But hey, you know what they say.” When I squeeze her waist, Violet’s sudden blush scorches me like a space heater. Adorable. “Giant clown feet? That means a giant clown—”
“Don’t!” Her face tucks in the crook of my throat, her shoulders shaking with laughter, and holy shit, I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m grinning up at the stars like a loon. “Please, Jude. Do not say it. You’ll give me nightmares.”
That’s fair. Clowns are awful.
Pressing my face against the top of her head, I breathe her in.
And maybe Violet doesn’t want to date me. Maybe more than this is off limits. But perhaps if I’m patient, if I wait and hope and long from afar, Violet will learn to trust me.
Trust that when I tease her, it’s with love.
When I challenge her at work, it’s because I know she’s the best.
And when we fight, it only makes me want her more. Makes me desperate to hold her.
“What a mess,” Violet murmurs, and I grunt in agreement. Somehow, for two supposedly intelligent people, we have made a complete disaster out of this. “You know, I didn’t mean what I said back there. I was embarrassed, and I lashed out. I’m sorry.”
We turn in silence for a long moment.
I nudge her temple with my chin. “Please elaborate.”
Another slow circle; another wince as she steps on my foot. Violet truly is an awful dancer, but somehow that just makes me love her more. Disastrous.
“You were right.” She grits out the words, like it takes a huge effort. And I get it, because it takes every ounce of my willpower not to crow triumphantly and ruin the moment. “About what Iwanted from you.Withyou. The stuff about… about kneeling, and um…”
“Begging?” My arms tighten in case she tries to escape, but Violet sighs and presses closer.
“Yes. You ass.”
“I’m not bragging! Do you hear me bragging?”
“I don’t hear younotbragging.”
We lapse into silence, and I’m glad it’s dark on this patch of rooftop. I can grin like an idiot, hidden in the gloom, and we can speak more honestly somehow in the shadows. It’s easier to confess things in the dark.
“So.” Violet’s skin is soft when I cup her face. And we’re not spinning anymore, not even pretending to dance, but I’m still dizzied by this moment. “If I kiss you, will you solemnly swear not to leap off this roof?”
Two hands fist in the front of my shirt and tug me closer. “Cross my heart,” she says.
Well, then.
Our noses bump, and the trellis creaks in the breeze behind us. Violet’s breath tickles my chin, and she’s pushing up on her toes, even as I bend my neck to reach her. If this works out, I’ll have to invest in a step ladder.
“Violet Moore.” I grip the hair at the base of her neck, tilting her head back. Her lips part and she stares up at me, already glazed and breathing hard. “I’ve wanted this for so fucking long. You have no idea.”
And thousands of heated daydreams about this moment have already flickered through my mind. We’ve had a lot of build up. So it seems impossible that when we finally kiss, it could ever live up to the hype, but our lips brush…
And my heart goes crazy.
