Page 73 of Hoax and Kisses
Matt’s eyes stay firmly on me as I approach, making my stomach flutter.
“Hi,” I whisper once I’m next to him.
“Hi back.” His voice is just as low, the sound traveling through every part of my body. “I’m sorry.”
I brush my fingers against his. “Don’t be. I’m having fun.”
“All right, Zoey.” Cooper slides an arm around my shoulder. “Looks like you got your man. How about a kiss to seal the deal?”
Anticipation floods my veins and swirls deep in my belly. Without missing a beat, I snag the mic from his hold. “I think that’s only fair for the price I’m paying,” I say, the words loud and clear.
Matt’s face flushes as the crowd breaks into raucous applause.
He closes his eyes for an instant, but when he opens them again, I’m taken aback by the fire blazing in his irises.
Grasping my wrist, he pulls me closer and splays his hands high on my hips. There’s no hesitation in his touch. No second thought. He’s touching me like he knows exactly what he’s gonna do with me, the same way he touched me on my first night in his town. But this time, there’s a weight to it. A history there thatfortifies my belief that he knows precisely how to handle me. And that thought sets me on fire.
“Only fair, huh?” he rasps.
My throat is so thick, no words come out. So I settle for a single nod.
His gaze dips to my mouth. “Can’t argue with that logic.”
He brings me to him with ease, only stopping when my breasts are pressed firmly against his chest.
A gasp escapes me, heat pooling low between my legs.
“Is that what the guy in your book did before kissing the girl?” he asks, his voice dangerously low.
My pulse pounds in my ears. “What?”
He twists a loose strand of my hair around his index finger, like he’s testing the texture, and suddenly, his words sink in.The page he read earlier.The kiss that was leading to—
“Do you expect me to beg for it, then?” I say, popped up on my toes, my lips inches from his.
He leans in, his mouth grazing the shell of my ear, his warm breath causing my skin to erupt into thousands of shivers that head straight to my core.
“I think I’ll kiss you regardless of whether you beg,” he whispers.
He moves back up, his focus locked on my mouth. For a moment, time stretches between us.
My heart hammers, and beneath the hand I’ve pressed to his chest to steady myself, his follows the same rhythm. When he finally closes the gap, when his lips brush mine in the lightest of touches, everything goes dark.
The kiss is brief. Too brief. A touch, a flash of heat that makes my head spin. His breath melds with mine, and on instinct, my lips part, ready for more.
But it never comes.
With a sharp inhale, he steps back. The loss of his closeness is immediate. I’m left with the ghost of his lips, the scent of firewood and daisies clinging to my skin as if he’s still grasping my waist.
And then, just like that, the crowd goes wild. But I don’t care. All I can think about is the way Matt’s mouth felt against mine, the way his fingers dug into my bustier as if he was trying to tether himself.
How that kiss wasn’tentirelya lie.
“Give it up for Zoey and Matt.” Cooper snaps me back to reality.
I laugh, but it comes out too fast, too nervous.
“Steep rate for a five-second kiss,” I tell Matt, trying to play it off.
