Page 57 of The Perils of Pretending
Sadie’s happy, I’m relaxed. I want to keep it that way.
“Let’s change for dinner first, and then we’ll take a picture,” Michelle says to Sadie.
Sadie turns back to me, still not saying anything about her grandma and Dorian. I don’t think she’s seen them yet. “You ready to go, Max? We’re going to take some photos on the dock to send to the Hayes cousins, Poppy, and Daphne.”
I absently nod, keeping my focus on the two troublemakers.
Sadie takes my hand in hers. It’s odd how comfortable I am with Sadie. How her touch is welcome instead of setting me on edge. Out of all the palms in the world, hers was meant for mine. We’ve only been fake dating for five days, but at this point it feels natural. I’m not even opposed to her calling me babe anymore either, which is not something I ever thought I’d be okay with.
We take one step, following Michelle, when the doors slide open and out walk Alice and Dorian.
“Sadie,” Alice says. “We’d like a word with you.”
Over my dead body will I allow Dorian to be with Sadie. I slide my arm around Sadie’s shoulders, pulling her into my side. I wrap my other arm around her, protecting her in the cage of my arms. “She can’t right now.” I tilt my head down, placing a soft kiss on top of Sadie’s head, letting Sadie know I’m not letting her out of my sight, and sending the signal to Alice and Dorian that Sadie is with me and there’s nothing they can do about it. Sadie’s hair is warm and her peach shampoo fills my nose. Light spreads through my body as I hold and kiss her tenderly. “We have something we need to do before dinner.”
Sadie’s arms squeeze me tighter.
Alice’s brows rise, making her already wrinkly forehead look like ripples in sand. “It can wait.”
Her disregard for other people is aggravating. I’m so over it. “It’s time sensitive.”
“Alice,” Michelle jumps in. “We do have something we want to get done before dinner. Maybe after we eat?”
“We just need a few minutes.”
“No, Grandma,” Sadie says.
We start walking down the path toward our cabin.
“Come on, Dorian,” Alice says. “Let’s follow them. We can talk to Sadie as she walks.”
“Should we make a run for it?” Sadie whispers to me.
Absolutely not. I’m sick of fighting these two off. I’m not going to keep arguing with Alice about giving us space. I may regret later what I’m about to do, for multiple reasons, like Brody and Sadie not being as relaxed with me afterward, but right now my only motive is to get Alice to leave us alone—for good.
I lean down and whisper in Sadie’s ear, “No. Let’s makethemuncomfortable for once. They can be the ones to run off instead of us.”
“How?”
Facing Sadie, I move my left hand to the side of Sadie’s neck. Gliding my thumb along her jaw line. Under my caress, I feel her shudder. Vibrations echo around my stomach from her reaction.
She looks at me, a question in her eyes.
I pointedly glance at her lips, then back to her eyes silently asking her if she’s okay with me kissing her.
It’s not the best environment for a first kiss, or if I ever imagined kissing Sadie how I would want this to go, but if we start making out, maybe Alice willfinallyget the hint that we don’t want to talk to her or Dorian. Or rather, that I refuse to let Sadie go by herself with those two and I will do whatever it takes to protect her. The fact that Dorian had the audacity to follow Sadie into a women’s restroom concerns me. What lengths will these two go to in order to get what they want from Sadie?
Sadie leans toward me and it’s all the answer I need.
I meet her lips halfway. The second her soft mouth touches mine, a burst of heat explodes from my core, traveling from my head to my toes until I’m burning like glowing molten metal fresh from the forge. I assumed this would be a timid kiss, considering our situation.
But Sadie has other plans and goes all in, not holding back. Her lips press hard and fast against mine like she’s desperate. A second burst of heat courses through me.
I had no idea kissing Sadie would make me feel this way. She’s my friend, but my body is saying Sadie is way more than that. She’s funny, kind, brave, smart, and gorgeous. She’s someone I’d want to spend the rest of my life with.Whoa, brain, it’s too soon for that.But I am at home with her. I can say and share whatever I’m feeling with her and know that she’ll accept me for who I am, even if my cockiness isn’t always her cup of tea.
Sadie shifts her weight, leaning into me. I gather her in my arms, pulling her flush against me, needing her to understand that this kiss, while it started for the intention of helping the situation, has turned into something real. It’s like a mask has been removed from my eyes and I’m seeing and feeling Sadie—not Brody’s sister—for the first time.
“What happened to not liking to kiss in public?” Alice demands.
