Page 87 of All In
“Are you nervous?” she asked, setting her bag against the kitchen counter.
“Not especially,” I said, battling with my tie again. I wasn’t nervous at all about being handed a piece of paper by the Dean of the business school. Having Kacey in my presence in front of my parents all day was another story.
“You sure about that?” She laughed.
“Positive.”
“Don’t fuss with the knot. You’re making it crooked.”
She turned me toward her and gave my tie a little jerk left, then right. “Perfect.” Her hand brushed down my lapel, then rested on my chest for half a heartbeat. I looked down at her. Her eyes widened. She ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip, then bit it. I could taste our kiss. It roared into my mouth, the memory of soft lips, a sweet taste and how she moaned softly into my throat…
All I had to do was bend my head a little and we’d kiss again.
She swallowed and quickly moved away. “I got you something. A graduation present.”
She rummaged in her a bag and pulled out a small box wrapped in red paper and tied with a purple bow.
“You didn’t have to,” I said.
“I wanted to. Open it.”
I tore off the giftwrap and opened the box. A silver watch gleamed against its gray velvet holder. Clear crystal covered a large face with Roman numerals circling the perimeter. A smaller face was almost camouflaged amid gold and steel gears. It was solid and handsome. Obviously hand-crafted. And expensive.
I stared at it for a moment, touched the thick leather band, then shook my head. “I can’t. It’s too much.”
“Too much what?” she said, smiling as she took it out of the box. “It’s a manly watch to fit your manly muscles.” She laid it over my left wrist and buckled it, her fingers brushing the inside of my wrist like feathers. “Do you see how it has two faces?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking down at her head that was bent over my wrist.
“I had the small face set to New Orleans time.” She touched her chin to her shoulder and smiled, not quite looking at me. “It’s only a two-hour difference. But you’ll always know what time it is where I am.”
She looked up at me, and I saw my reflection in the strange blue of her eyes: a dumbstruck idiot wanting to kiss her again. Fuck the consequences.
“Do you like it?” she asked, almost a whisper.
“I love it.”
“I’m glad.”
Her chin tilted up higher, her lips parting for me. “Teddy…”
“My parents will be here any minute,” I said, my head sinking toward hers.
“And we haven’t talked yet.” Her eyes were on my mouth. “We’re talking, not kissing. Remember?”
I moved in. “Fuck talking.”
She gasped a little as my lips brushed hers. I pressed in, hard and demanding, groaning at the sweet taste of her on my tongue. She let loose a little cry into my mouth, and fell back against the front door, her hands carving through my hair. I kissed her deep, the fire between us flaring up fast. I whispered her name as my hands slid down her back, over the silky material of her dress, down to the hem. One hand pinning her to the door, the other gliding up her thigh until my fingers brushed the lacy edge of her panties. She tilted her hips toward me, like an offering, her hands clutching my ass, keeping me tight to her.
The doorbell rang.
“Knock, knock,” my mother called from outside. “Theo, dear? We’ll be late.”
Kacey jerked away from me, cheeks flushed and eyes bright as she smoothed her dress back into place. Murmuring, “Shit, shit, shit,” and re-pinned the flower that was hanging by her chin.
My erection had fled at the sound of my mother’s voice. I tugged trousers and jacket and put my hair back where it belonged.
“Your lipstick is smeared,” I said.
