Page 51 of Trip Me Up

“Wait. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I crossed the line.”

One corner of her mouth quirked. “So did I.”

Was she talking about last night? When she’d lifted on her toes and her eyelashes had fluttered down, every cell in my body had cried outto kiss her.

Fear had stopped me. I hadn’t yet told her the full truth. The liberties I’d taken with her image. Lobelia. I had to tell her. Would she think I was a creep? And what would Qiana say when she found out? Toast. I’d be toast. She’d cut off the ends of her braids that matched my cover, scrub off that red nail polish, and switch to acid green for Team Sam.

Sam sat on the bed. Bilbo jumped up beside her, curled up into a circle, and let out a dramatic sigh.

She sipped her tea, grimaced, and set it on the shelf by the bed. “Gabriela’s your agent. Is she also your…” She shoved her hands between her knees. “Your girlfriend?”

“No!” Had Gabi’s prickly protectiveness added to Sam’s stress? This was a new part of the calculus. “I mean, we dated. In college. For a couple months. After we broke up, we stayed friends. She helped me with my writing, too, and when I wroteSecrets, she sold the series for me. So now she’s my friend and my agent. Plus”—I might as well admit another failing—“she types up my handwritten manuscripts and does all the email stuff. You can probably tell I’m not into technology.”

“Oh? I hadn’t noticed.” Sam’s pink lips curved a fraction of an inch.

I set my mug of bitterness on the credenza. The chair was so close to the bed it didn’t require even a step to reach it. More like a pivot.

I pivoted.

What am I doing?My arm went around her waist like it belonged there. I froze for a second, but then her head dropped to my shoulder. She sighed, and that was all it took. I tugged her tighter and rested my chin on the top of her head.

“I like you, Niall. And it made me jealous to see her in your room.”

“Wh-what?” My heart thumped as if Sally, our most ornery goat, was trying to kick through its walls.

She untucked her head and looked me in the eye. “Should I be more circumspect? Do you want me to pretend I’m not attracted to you? I could do that, but what’s the point? We’re on tour another couple of weeks, and then we probably won’t see each other again.”

“You—you just took me by surprise. No, I want you to be you. I guess I’m not used to people saying what they mean. Other than my family.”

“We won’t be together long enough to waste time tiptoeing around what we want to say. We should say what we mean.” She stared me straight in the eye.

My stomach clenched every time she reminded me our time together was short. It meant she was right. I couldn’t waste a minute with this amazing woman.

“I like you, too.” Some of the silky strands of her hair had tangled with my stubble, and I smoothed them away, tracing her cheek with one finger. “Is this okay? Touching you?”

“Yeah.” She lifted her chin. “I promise I’ll tell you when it’s not.” She laid her hand over my galloping heart.

Mom always said when I was given an inch, I’d take a mile. I ran my hand from where it rested on her hip up her spine and then massaged her neck.

“How’s this?”

The tension in her muscles eased. “It’s great. When you touch my neck, it makes me all calm and floaty.”

I filed that away. Calm and floaty sounded good, and I wanted her to feel good. I wanted to be the one who made her feel good.

With my other hand, I tipped up her chin, the way I’d done last night. I cradled her jaw in my hand. She stared at my lips, the way she’d done last night. When her tongue flicked out to wet her pillowy bottom lip, my brain gave up on rational thought. Gone was the hesitation about kissing my tour partner. About what Qiana would think. I couldn’t remember a single reason why I shouldn’t be on the bed in her hotel room, holding her. The only thing that existed in that moment was the desire that burned inside me, heating my skin. Desire for Sam.

I kissed her.

I had enough restraint left to make it a gentle kiss. Her lips were as soft as they looked, and I carefully kept my stubble away from her delicate skin. Still, my lips tingled where they touched hers, itching for more. Wait. Had I gone too far? I dragged my lips away and tried to corral enough air in my overtasked lungs to speak.

“Was that okay? I—I’m sorry I didn’t check first. I just—”

Her lips crashed onto mine, and there was nothing gentle about our second kiss. It was hunger. Lust. Passion. I wasn’t sure whose tongue dipped inside whose mouth first. Our teeth clacked together. I tugged her closer, one hand on her neck, angling her head to meet my lips, the other hand on her back, pressing her chest against mine.

Her fingers curled into my back, making sharp points of pressure through my flannel shirt. A counterpoint to the pressure building against the zipper of my jeans.

Whoa. If I didn’t slow down, I’d have her flat on the bed. And I’d deserve it if Bilbo took a chunk out of my leg. Or another appendage.

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