Page 47 of Reluctantly Rogue

If Torin and I decide to have children, we can do it without having sex with one another. We can do it with in vitro fertilization.

And if we do, Jonah will know that.

Hell, he knows about my recurrent UTIs.

He’ll probably know how many times Torin and I kiss. If we ever do.

This man really does know everything about me. All the really weird, kind of messed up stuff. And yet he’s still standing here, gazing down at me as if I'm something precious.

“How have you never been kissed?” he asks, as if in awe.

So, okay, fine. He can know this too.

“Have you ever had my grandmother's Danish layer cake?”

He blinks, clearly not following my seeming change in subject. “Um…no.”

“It’s this traditional cake that is layers of vanilla cake, pastry cream, and raspberry jam.”

“Okay,” he says.

“Lots of people make them, but my grandmother’s is thebest. Absolutely. I used tobegher for it on my birthday and any other special occasion I could think of. But, about eight years ago, her back got bad enough that it became too hard for her to stand and do a lot of baking, especially anything that took a long time or had a lot of extra steps. So she passed the recipe and instructions to my mom and my aunt. But it’s not as good. No one’s is as good. And I miss it. I would never expect her to do it for me now, but I still crave that cake the way she made it.”

He’s just listening. When I stop, he asks, “Is that somehow about kissing?”

“Doyouever crave my grandmother’s Danish layer cake?” I ask.

“No.”

“Because you’ve never had it,” I tell him. “You can’t miss something you’ve never had.”

I see understanding dawn in his eyes. Then he shakes his head, almost as if he’s sad. “You’ve avoided kissing because…of Torin?”

I lift a shoulder. “Well, it was because of Declan when a boy tried to kiss me when I was fourteen, and I punched him in the nose. But after that…yeah. It was Torin.”

“Dammit,” he mutters.

“My grandfather kept telling me it was all going to work out. So, in the back of my mind, or deep in my heart, or something, I couldn’t stop thinking that I was basically engaged. And I guess I knew that my marriage might not have love and passion. So, I didn’t want to fall in love. Or have amazing kisses. Or sex. Because that way I wouldn’t know what I was missing.”

“Jesus, Duchess,” he breathes out, almost as if he’s in pain.

“So, I might not have kissed you at the pub,” I tell him, now thinking about it. “I wouldn't have known what to do. I've never kissed anyone. I’ve definitely never made a move on anyone.”

He steps in close. Nearly on top of me, and he lifts a hand to cup my face. “You wouldn't have needed to kiss me. I would've absolutely used the excuse to kiss you.”

My eyes widen. “Even though I'm your boss’s fiancée?”

“Yeah, well…it's my birthday,” he says, his voice husky and deep.

His eyes are on my lips.

My entire body feels like it's jumping and tingling.

I've never been kissed. But oh my God, I want to be.

By Jonah Greene.

And no one else.

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