Page 134 of Will Bark for Pizza
“Here,” I said, holding out the lighter to her.
She took it from me, her fingers grazing mine. The embers sparked to life. The simple touch a warning that if we started this fire, it would be next to impossible to extinguish.
“It was a weird fucking letter,” Kira mumbled, pulling it from the envelope. She thumbed the lighter and held the flame to the corner of the yellow paper. It caught quickly, licking across the page until it was nearly engulfed in flames. She dropped it into the barrel. “And now it’ll be ash.”
We stood in silence as the letter and its envelope dissolved into dust. Her stoic expression morphed into relief, and a single tear rolled down the side of her cheek.
I waited until the flames extinguished, and poured water into the bottom of the barrel to be certain the fire was out. Kira leaned against the side of the truck, looking up at the star-filled sky in what I could onlydescribe as relief as I cleaned out the barrel and stowed it.
In silence, I joined her, leaning my back against the truck.
But before I could look up at the stars and compare them to the Colorado night sky, Kira flung herself at me. One moment we were beside one another. The next, her body perfectly molded with mine. She reached for the back of my head with both hands and yanked me down for a kiss I had no power or desire to fight.
Our lips moved together as one, as though they had a thousand kisses to learn this rhythm. I traced my tongue against the seam of her lips until she opened for me, allowing our tongues to dance.
Fingernails pressed against the back of my neck, her breasts pushed against my chest, and those fucking perfect hips arched right into me. If she doubted my attraction to her before, there was no hiding it now. Blood rushed south, making me hard as a fucking rock in two heartbeats.
I slid my hands down her back, over her hips, and onto her firm ass.
“Fuck, Kira,” I groaned between frenzied kisses, lifting her until she wrapped her legs around my waist. I spun us, placing her back against the truck, and continued tasting those delicious lips.
Hands roamed greedily as our kiss deepened. A hunger I’d never experienced stirred to life inside me. It wasn’t the impulsivity I’d experienced with women in the past. It was more profound, and it roused something primal within me. I didn’t understand what the fuck washappening here. But one thing was clear: Kira Mason was my kryptonite.
She rocked her hips against my length, and I damn near went blind.
I slid my hand inside her shirt, just above the hip. The skin-on-skin contact sent a lightning storm of sensation throughout my body. I raked my fingers slowly toward her breast, desperate for the feel of those perfect globes in my hands but not willing to rush this.
As my fingertips grazed lace, a shrill ring cut through the air.
“No,” Kira groaned, dropping her forehead against my chest before she slowly slid down my body. She reached through the open passenger side window for her phone. Aspen’s name appeared on the screen.
We were taking too long, and everyone knew.
Well, fuck.
“Hey,” Kira said, answering on speaker. “We’re heading there right now.”
“Did you take the scenic route?” Aspen teased.
A blush surged up Kira’s neck, and dammit, it made me feel smug.
“Had to fix a loose cupboard door,” I said.
“That’s a new one,” Aspen said, as though seeing right through the bullshit lie. But somehow, I suspected she’d keep our secret. In fact, she might just be the ally I needed when it came to that bookstore apartment. I made a mental note to chat with her about it later.
We gave Aspen our orders and Kira hung up the phone.
“Sorry,” she said to me.
“For what?”
“I shouldn’t have kissed you.Again.”
“Maybe I like it when you kiss me.”
“Beckett,” she said, pleading in her tone as she rested a hand on my chest as though it were the most natural thing to do. I wasn’t even sure she was aware she did it until she looked at her hand and pulled it away. “You know why we can’t.”
“I know.” It didn’t stop me from staring at her lips like I was a starving man sizing up his first meal in days.
