Page 86 of Little Sunshine

I bristled at his anger and his concern. Even with as often as I saw the second one from him—and it was far too often, in my opinion—I still wasn’t used to it. “It’s not my fault you keep the mugs all the way up there. Not all of us are behemoths.”

Setting my ass on the counter, he opened the drawer under the coffee maker to show stirrers, powdered creamer, sweeteners, and mugs.

Lots of mugs.

I threw my arms up. “Well, how was I supposed to know those were there?”

“You should’ve asked me instead of doing something so dangerous.”

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to scale something. I’ve been this height since I was like twelve.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the eye roll or my words, but one of them made Ash’s jaw clench.

Ah, good to know I still have that effect on him.

His reaction only made me babble more. “I’m a professional at counter climbing. I’d win a gold medal.”

“And almost falling?”

“That was your fault. Competitor interference. Very unsportsmanlike.”

The corner of his lips tipped up and some of the tension left his face. It wasn’t a dimpled smile, but it was better than his jaw disintegrating to dust with as hard as he’d been clenching it. “From now on, come get me. Got it?”

“You were on the phone,” I said.

Still standing close, Ash lowered his face until it was in front of me. Until he was all I could see. “Don’t care if I’m on the phone with the president, the pope, and Elvis from beyond the grave. You can always interrupt.”

I’d never had someone make me feel like a priority. Even if his words were an empty offer to be polite, I’d never even had someone pretend I was a priority.

My stomach swirled like it was made of melty lava, heating me from the inside out. It traveled in my veins, making my heart pound as my nipples tightened painfully.

I’d always considered myself smart. Realistic to the point of cynicism. Even as a kid, I hadn’t believed in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, or any other fairy tales. Those few fleeting moments of wistfulness were never worth the crushing disappointment.

Yet as I looked up at his handsome face so close to mine, all my hard-fought common sense fled, and one thought kept running through my brain.

Kiss me.

Kiss me.

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

It was stupid. Insane, actually. Unrealistic and fanciful and…

And I wanted it so badly, I ached.

Literally ached.

Ash’s gaze dropped to my mouth, and I barely stopped myself from licking my lips. From verbalizing my need.

Or from just kissing him.

Just as quickly, he moved away like nothing had happened.

Because nothing had outside of my wild imagination. For all I knew, I had dried yogurt on my chin that he was too nice to point out.

I discreetly wiped my face while Ash grabbed a couple of travel cups. “We’ll have to take the coffee to go, though.”

“To go where?”

---