Page 44 of Fast & Reckless
She shrugged, suddenly feeling embarrassed, like she’d said too much. “Just … this. You were right. I never saw any of the places I visited. Not the Ferris wheels, or the markets, or the temples, or the parks …”
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, giving her a smile she’d almost describe as bashful, if it was coming from anyone else but Will. “I’m having fun, too. For the first time in ages.”
“So Singapore is like, the first real city for both of us.”
“I guess it is.”
“Well, now you’re back in Formula One, so you’ll have all those parties and stuff. I’m sure that’s fun?”
He shrugged, looking up at the trees overhead. “I guess. What about you? You like the Formula One glamour?”
“It’s not really my thing, you know?” She hopped up on one of the benches, walking along the edge like a tightrope. The warm night air rustled through the trees overhead and the string lights shuddered, making the shadows dance around them. “I guess I’m just too uptight.”
He scoffed. “No, you’re not.”
She stopped in surprise and swiveled to face him. “How do you know? You barely know me.”
He stopped too, turning to face her. Up here on the bench, she was a little taller than him. The shadows of leaves danced across his face, those cheekbones, the sharp angle of his jaw. The breeze ruffled through his dark hair, black as night in this light. She sighed internally. He wassoso pretty. She could stare at his beautiful face for the rest of her life.
Slowly, he reached up, snagging a curl blowing across her face and tucking it behind her ear, and her chest fluttered in response. “Come on, now. That’s hardly true anymore. I know you. We’re friends, right?”
She sucked in a breath and held it. His fingers lingered, tracing the edge of her ear, then he ran a fingertip down the side of her neck. Her skin felt like it burst into flames in the wake. Whatever this was, it felt like a whole lot more than “friends.”
It was a hunger, a yearning, that she was sure he felt, too. Suddenly, they felt very alone, and real life felt very far away, like the world had stopped turning and had paused in its orbit, just waiting for him to kiss her. Or for her to kiss him. Like the next tick of the clock, the next beat of her heart, depended on their lips meeting.
The moment of silence dragged out like it had on the Ferris wheel—him staring up at her, her staring down at him. He didn’t move to close the gap this time either.
His hand came back up to her neck, then he slowly ran his fingers through her hair.
“I like it like this,” he murmured.
Her eyelids fluttered down, meeting his gaze. “I know you do.”
“Did you leave it down for me?”
“Maybe. A little,” she conceded on a whisper, finally admitting it to herself. She’d declared defeat after Melbourne, unable to summon the will to straighten it every day. It was about saving time, she’d insisted to herself. It had nothing to do with Will’s face when he looked at her like this.
“Are yousurewe’re not kissing? Because I really want to kiss you right now.”
She wanted it more than she wanted to draw her next breath. She let out an unsteady sigh. “No, I’m not sure, and that’s the problem.”
Please, she begged silently.Choose it for me so I don’t have to.
He reached for her hip with his free hand, then lazily dragged it up her side, nudging her arm up until her hand was resting on his shoulder. Her fingers flexed, digging in. His other hand ran through her hair again before coming to rest on the side of her face. His thumb traced the bottom edge of her lip and she leaned in to him, eyes half-closed. “Maybe you should try it again,” he said softly. “Just to be sure.”
The dark and the trees and the dancing lights were making her feel lightheaded. It was hard to remember her own name, never mind why she shouldn’t be giving in to the impulse to kiss him. So she stopped fighting it, and suddenly gravity seemed to do the rest, the strength of her desire pulling her body inexorably into his.
She let her eyes slide closed, quieting the last reminders of the real world, and a second later, her lips were on his. In the days since that kiss in Melbourne, she’d almost convinced herself it hadn’t been as magical, as electric, as she’d thought.
She was wrong. This was, hands down, one of the best kisses of her life. Those lips felt as good as they looked, and when his tongue traced her bottom lip, she opened to it, letting it sweep in and stroke her own. The breathy moan that escaped her throat sounded loud in the quiet of the tiny park.
Will’s hand tightened on her hip, and her fingers slid up to grip the back of his neck. She wanted to climb off the bench and wrap herself around him, feel him wrap himself around her.
His fingers slipped under the edge of her shirt, and his palm settled against her bare back.
When his teeth nipped gently at her bottom lip, she groaned, pressing closer to him. His hand slid down to the back of her thigh once more, urging her forward. And so sheleaned in to him, letting him pull her body against his and lift her clean off her feet.
Slowly he lowered her to the ground. Her body slid down the length of his, his mouth never leaving hers. As her chest slid along his and her thighs pressed against his, a moan escaped her and disappeared into his mouth.
