Page 96 of Falling Overboard

He shook his head. “What you want is the only thing that matters right now.”

Sharp, tingling heat coursed through me and I couldn’t think.

“I want . . .”

This time I was the one who couldn’t finish my sentence. Because the end of it waseverything. I wanted everything.

“Lucky,” he said, and I wondered if he was feeling at all impatient. Because I certainly was. “I know you want to kiss me because you already have.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Hunter

Lucky made a sound at the back of her throat. “I did not! I would remember if I had!”

She had. Even if she didn’t want to admit it. I tried not to smile. “Last night. On my cheek.”

The expression on her face was one of guilt. Was that because of the rules or because she’d thought I hadn’t been awake? I didn’t need an apology.

I only needed her to do it again. But in a different spot this time.

And I couldn’t get over the fact that she had thought I didn’t want to kiss her. It was all I ever thought about. It was amazing that I could still manage to do my job at all.

“That is ... neither here nor there,” she said, raising her chin slightly.

If she hadn’t been wearing so little clothing, I probably would have recognized that she was trying to give herself an out. But we’d been handed a golden opportunity to break the rule in a way that we technically couldn’t be held responsible for, and I didn’t want to waste it. “That’s confirmation. Why won’t you admit to it?”

“Because I can’t.” Her voice broke. “I can’t kiss you and you can’t kiss me and that’s just how things are. And that cheek kiss was unintentional.”

“How do you kiss someone unintentionally?”

“By not intending it. It just happened.”

I couldn’t stand the distance between us. I put my hand on her waist and tugged her forward. She came very willingly. “And why did it happen?”

“Because . . .”

Because she had wanted to kiss me for as long as I had wanted to kiss her. She needed to know that. “I’ve been imagining kissing you for weeks, Lucky. I want it more than almost anything.”

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” she demanded as our chests collided with each quick inhale and exhale. She was so soft that I was having a hard time focusing.

“You spook easily.”

“I’m not a horse. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

“Yes, you should have.” I let go of her hand and cradled her face, running my thumb along the lower edge of her lip. “I think you should kiss me more.”

She made a noise at the back of her throat that made my knees go weak.

“But it’s your decision,” I said. I would walk away if that was what she wanted, even if it killed me. “Whatever you want, I’ll respect it.”

“You just said you have to follow the rules.”

I nodded. “I do. But right now I don’t care.”

I was past caring. She made me feel like I was getting dragged out to sea by the tide and I should just go along with it and not try to fight. I should give in.

But this was deliberate. This was a choice. One we were both going to make together.

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