Page 27 of Fake Date with the Mountain Man

When I press my lips to hers, they all come undone, unraveling almost painfully in my stomach as I try to figure out how tofollow Marlow’s instructions. How to kiss her, but not like it. After all, this is not us. This is fake. And I’m finding that I do hate kissing her like this, all chaste and proper and stiff.

I want to fucking devour her instead.

Our lips are barely touching. Hers are soft and uncertain as they brush against mine, leaving the slightest trace of her taste behind. I want to lap it up. I want to taste every bit of her.

When Marlow whispers ‘more’ against my lips, I pull her against me and part my lips, drawing her lower lip between mine. It’s a slow, warm kiss that makes both of us push against each other a little harder. Our lips glide softly together until I need more. I slip my tongue past her lips in a light stroke. Marlow’s sweet, soft tongue greets mine warmly, drawing me in further.

I’ve had a lot of first kisses, but none like this. It’s the kind of kiss that feels new and exciting, yet familiar.

“Mr. Ehler, your truck is ready,” the teenage valet hollers as he jingles my keys.

There goes his tip.

I groan and Marlow laughs against my lips. We don’t break away immediately. A heavy breath seems to pass through both of our chests at the same time. We release it as we release each other.

The valet gets a dirty look from me, but I still toss him a couple bucks as I shut the passenger door behind Marlow.

Our plan worked. As I walk over to the driver’s side of my truck, I see the group we wanted to avoid walking down the street and entering a coffee shop on the opposite side. They must have walked right past us without interrupting.

I don’t feel an ounce of relief though. I hoped these were just passing thoughts I was having about Marlow. Some delusions of attraction brought on by that little green dress and an extra beer or two last night. I expected them to be gone and forgotten bymorning, but now they are bigger and brighter in my head than ever before, practically burning a hole in my frontal lobe.

I can still taste her. I can still feel her lips on mine.

Neither of us talks about the kiss. In fact, we widely avoid any form of conversation for the first hour of our drive. Any bits that slip through are lazy comments about the weather or the view. By the time we hit Tennessee, we’ve progressed to talking about Abby’s youth program.

She’s in the middle of detailing the changes they made to Hunter’s old cabin when she cuts herself off mid-sentence.

“I’m surprised you’re interested in all this,” she says.

I shrug.

“You’re not plotting to Hansel and Gretel these kids or something, are you? Am I inadvertently playing into your plan by giving you all this information?” she laughs.

“Isn’t Hansel and Gretel about a crazy forest witch? That sounds more like your deal.”

“So, you just like kids then?”

I shrug again. “I used to be in Boy Scouts. I think programs like that are good for kids.”

“Yeah, they are,” she says slowly. “Bet you were cute in your Boy Scouts uniform.”

I smile but don’t say anything. She wouldn’t think I was cute in my Eagle Scouts uniform when I was a senior in high school. None of the other girls did either. It’s sort of a sore spot with me, but I loved it so much that I wouldn’t give it up…even at the expense of my popularity. Not that I ever had any to begin with.

“Abby’s doing a good thing, and I want to help out however I can,” I say.

“Me too.”

We don’t talk again for a long time.

Eventually, I give up on trying not to think about almost-naked Marlow. Her little sundress makes it impossible not to think about those perfect little imperfections.

My mind wanders to Marlow telling off that woman at our table, the way she laughed at our private jokes, the way she relaxed against me, the way she snorted herself awake in the middle of the night. The way she kissed me back.

And then I realize I’m sitting there next to her with a giant, dopey grin plastered across my face.

Fuck. IlikeMarlow.

My stomach drops as the words come together in my brain.

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