Page 52 of Tempt Me

“Why would I forget that night?” She peeled my fingers away from my face.

“I’m super-embarrassed, okay? And I’m sorry. I didn’t even ask before I kissed you.”

“True. Though that doesn’t mean I’m mad about it.”

“But you just sat there! You didn’t move!”

“I was surprised, that’s all. I didn’t know Jackson’s little sister was bi, and I didn’t know you liked me.”

Lightness bubbled in my chest and held at the base of my throat. When I spoke, my voice was breathy. “How do you feel about it now?”

“Intrigued.” She traced a finger down my throat and paused it at the hollow between my collarbones, right where the bubbles had lodged. “Though there are some reasons I should keep it a purely intellectual interest.”

No!My heart thudded against my ribs. “Reasons?”

She pulled back and counted them on her fingers. “First, you’re my employee.”

“I’m helping you with PR,” I argued. “I walked into your office and demanded you let me help you.”

“Second, you’re ten years younger than me. We have vastly different life experiences.”

“Opposites attract. Isn’t that what Paula Abdul says?”

Jamila rolled her eyes. “You weren’t even born when that song came out. Besides, she made a video with a fucking cartoon cat. What the hell does she know?”

“I think she had a point.” I crossed my arms.

Jamila traced a finger down my arm, but her words belied the sensual touch. “Third, and this is the real dealbreaker, you’re my friend’s little sister.”

“A dealbreaker? Jackson doesn’t own me. He gets no say in my love life.”

Jamila tunneled her hand into my hair and scratched my scalp with her short fingernails. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm.” Jamila’s hand on me was heaven. I dared to reach a finger to her jaw and trail it down the long column of her neck the way I’d wanted to do all afternoon.

She shivered, then leaned into my touch. “Keeping in mind all the reasons I gave that this can be nothing but a casual, friends-with-limited-benefits thing, how would you feel about a do-over?”

My brain stalled out. “Friends with limited benefits?”

“I told you I don’t do long-term. I especially don’t do it with my friends’ siblings. But we can scratch that itch you have for me. I’d be willing to add the occasional make-out sesh to our friendship.”

A chill shuddered through my body, all the way to my teeth. I shook off her hand and twisted mine in my lap. “You’re making fun of me, right?”

“No, baby.” She laid her hand on the sofa cushion behind me. “Look, you’ve really helped me out over the past couple of weeks. You’re all grown up now. And I’m a little curious about what it’d be like.”

“You’re curious,” I said flatly. “You’d kiss me to satisfy your curiosity.”

“If that’s what you want to take from what I said, fine.” She shrugged, but her gaze burned into me, anything but careless.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re into me too.”

“Not what I said.”

I pursed my lips. She was offering a kiss, maybe a little over-the-clothes action, as an experiment. No strings.

Was it enough? No.

But I couldn’t walk away from it either.

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