Page 45 of At the Heart of It
“By kissing me?”
She nodded. “Kissing you and rubbing myself against you and—” The words made her dizzy, so she decided to stop there.
“Were you trying to manipulate me?” He sounded more charmed than annoyed.
She hesitated, then glanced down at the beer. “I don’t think so, but I can’t say for sure. How self-aware is anyone, really, about why they do certain things?”
“Anyone ever tell you that you overthink things?”
“All. The. Time.” She meant for her tone to convey the gravity of the situation, but caught herself starting to smile. Okay, so this was a little absurd. She took a breath and met his eyes again. “I just don’t want you to blame me. If things go wrong, I mean.”
“Kate.”
“Yes?”
“I solemnly swear not to blame you—or your delectable lips—when things go wrong.”
Her breath caught on delectable.
Her brain caught on his choice of when instead of if.
The rest of her body was humming like she’d swallowed a shot of whiskey. She glanced at the beer glass on the coffee table and wondered if she’d absorbed some through her fingertips.
“Okay,” she said, though she couldn’t recall if she was agreeing to something or acknowledging what he’d said. What had he said again? The living room felt hot, and she wondered if it was from the fireplace or something else.
“Tell you what,” Jonah said. “How about we balance things out?”
Kate swung her gaze back to his. “How do you mean?”
“Well, since you seem so concerned about your own culpability and your intentions in kissing me, it only seems fair that I should kiss you now.” He smiled. “Just to set things right.”
Heat flooded her face. She tried to swallow, but discovered she couldn’t. “I—I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
She knew it wasn’t a good idea. So why was she leaning closer?
She had every intention of standing up then. Putting some distance between her body and Jonah’s, maybe even leaving. It was late, and she’d said what she’d come to say. She really should go.
But somehow she found herself leaning in, pressing her palms to his chest, breathing in the woodsy scent of him as she tilted her head back and pressed her lips to?—
“Nope.” Jonah drew back, and Kate started to yank her hands off his chest. But Jonah was quick, catching her wrists to pin her palms in place.
“Not like that.” He grinned. “What part of ‘I should kiss you’ didn’t make sense?”
Kate swallowed. “The part where we both agreed we shouldn’t kiss at all.”
“Right, that part.” Jonah smiled again. “And that’s totally legit. Right after this kiss.”
Then his lips claimed hers. Any thought of leaving vanished the instant Kate felt his hand slide around her waist to settle in the small of her back. He pulled her against him, kissing hard and deep as Kate responded in kind.
She knew in theory it shouldn’t matter who kissed first when both parties were willing, but Jonah was right. There was something different about this. Maybe it was the way he angled his mouth against hers, the way he tasted like pumpkin spice.
Maybe it was his hand in her hair, the way he pulled her so tight against him that her body ached to slide onto his lap.
Maybe it was the thrill of knowing they shouldn’t be doing this.
Or maybe it was something else entirely, the knowledge that they seemed incapable of keeping their hands off each other no matter how many times they agreed it would be best.
Jonah broke the kiss first, but he didn’t let go of her. With his fingers still in her hair, he held her gaze with his. “Okay then.”
