Page 43 of Every Rose

She was actually startled. “Really?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

She contemplated his words. “I see happy couples. My parents are absurdly happy, as you witnessed.” She reflected back on what she’d said. “I think my tone was more critical of people who hook up with bad choices because they get caught up in the romance of the moment.” There. That sounded reasonable.

“Okay.”

“Are we back at that love at first sight thing you were previously obsessed about?”

He closed his eyes briefly. “I am never going to live that down, am I?”

“Your night of drunken debauchery?”

“It was a stag. Drunken debauchery is not only expected, it’s required. It was talking about love at first sight that put me in no man’s land.”

“You were sort of adorable. And you weren’t that drunk.”

He moved closer. “Not so drunk that I don’t remember kissing you.” He dropped his voice to a low tone that sent a shiver down her spine. “Not so drunk that I don’t remember how you tasted.”

An eternal moment passed. “What did I taste like?”

Amusement and desire flickered deep in his eyes. “Spearmint.”

“Spearmint?” Damn, he really did remember. “I brushed my teeth before I left the house.”

He placed a finger over her lips. “I wasn’t finished. You tasted like spearmint and something else. Like sex.”

“Sex has a flavor?” She meant to sound tough and sassy but her words came out husky and she suspected they could both hear her panties melting right off her.

He took the wine glass out of her hand and set it on a shelf. He set his beer beside it. Then he turned back. His hands went to her waist. If she’d been wearing jeans she thought he’d have hooked his fingers in the belt loops and pulled her closer. His hands felt warm through the fabric of the dress.

“Sex has many flavors. This is one of them,” and then he cupped the back of her head and put his mouth over hers. Oh, it was different this time. Stronger, headier. This man wasn’t under the influence of scotch. He was in complete control. Of the moment, of her response. He’d lunged at her hungrily in the car after the stag. This time, he teased, wooed. He toyed with her mouth, not dragging a response from her but inviting one.

She’d had a tough time resisting the inebriated Matt. Sober and out to seduce, he was irresistible.

When he pulled back, a quizzical expression on his face, she took over, kissing him back. If he could tease, excite, seduce with nothing but a kiss and whispered promises, so could she.

And she did.

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