Page 47 of Made for You
“Fair point, but I’d also submit that it is ifyousay it is.” I reluctantly leaned back enough to see her face right as her hands slipped down over my shoulders and clutched at the fabric of my shirt.
Her gorgeous eyes looked nearly drugged, and my hands flexed where they rested atop her thighs to keep from hauling her closer. But then, she hooked her legs around me and urged me into her space, bodies flush, and she kissed me.
The contact was all I needed to push me from the man who’d inspected every action in the last few seconds, the one trying to keep his head, into a man given over to the current. Her hands at my neck now, mine sliding up, up, up her jeans and around her hips to press her closer, one remaining there while the other mapped the ridges of her spine before cradling her neck, the back of her head.
Every place she touched sent heat sizzling through my veins, and every press of her lips or touch of her tongue sent my heart pounding harder. I couldn’t get close enough, touch her enough, taste her enough.
There were far too many things between us—clothes, for starters. And—
A loudthumpsliced through the passion and stopped me. Nikki froze, too, then pulled back and held her hands aloft like touching me was akin to getting caught red-handed in a jewel heist.
“Kiley,” she said, and the word did its work.
It sobered me enough to realize I’d been thinking about wanting Nikki so much I’d forgotten my sister—the child I was bound by duty, honor, and love to protect—could’ve walked in on us. And no, I wouldn’t have stripped Nikki down and had my way with her right here on the counter, but it wouldn’t have been ideal to have her trot down the stairs to find us in the throes of each other.
Though maybe someday when we have the house to ourselves…
“Kiley,” I said, too, my breath still coming fast as I worked to calm myself. And Ididneed to calm myself. Nikki’s legs had dropped away, but our bodies still pressed close. Her scent in my nose, her kiss on my lips, there was simply nothing I wanted more than to start right where we’d stopped. But my sister could walk in at any moment, and that just wouldn’t work.
A smile cracked her startled face open, and then she laughed. She slapped a hand over her mouth and kept at it, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with her, this interruption shifting from sobering to a bubbly, fizzing feeling unlike anything I’d felt.
“Guess we should probably…” Ever so reluctantly, I stepped back, promising myself it wouldn’t be the last time we got close like that.
Her cheeks had stained red with a flush so delicious, I had to swallow down the longing the sight of her beautiful face caused in me. But she wasn’t upset or even embarrassed… this was from us. From kissing and being kissed and getting close. For some reason, the swirl of red on her cheeks and crawling up her neck made my heart clutch.
Her laughter tapered off, and she hopped down from the counter once I stepped away enough to give her room. She wasn’t all that much shorter than me, but the counter had provided a nice boost, and having her feet on the ground made me wish I could hug her.
Wait.Icouldhug her. I needed that closeness after the… well, after the closeness. The intimacy of kissing and the harsh interruption of my beloved teenaged sister banging around upstairs—though admittedly, I did see why that was ultimately not a bad thing.
With a predictable, slow pace so she could refuse me if she needed—not that she seemed inclined to—my fingers coasted along the dip of her waist and around to her back.
“What—” She inhaled, not exactly sharply, but enough to cut off her words.
My other arm looped around, and with hands pressed firmly but gently between her shoulder blades and over the curve of her spine a few inches lower, I pulled her into me. After a short beat, her arms encircled me, returning the light pressure on my back.
We stood like that for a few seconds, just breathing together in this moment. My heart’s clattering from earlier had calmed, and the utter peace that descended on me now would’ve shaken me if it hadn’t soothed me.
When was the last time I’d felt so utterly comfortable and settled andgood?
Eventually, we broke apart. She rounded the kitchen island, and I gripped the edge of the countertop because if I didn’t, my hands would’ve tried to find their home with her.
She gathered up a purse and slung the bag of ingredients over a shoulder.
“Tell her I had a great time.” She flicked her eyes to the stairs, where we’d both expected Kiley to come loping down any minute.
“I’m sure she’ll say the same,” I said, wondering if she knew just how true that was. “I doubt she’s gotten to bake much.”
She only nodded.
“I should do that more, I guess.” I glanced at the sheet of cooled cookies on the oven. I didn’t really bake, but who else would teach her? My mom certainly hadn’t. I didn’t think Rosie was big into sweets, either. But the fact that Nikki had…
“Listen, I—” She swallowed and glanced down at her hands.
Alarm rose like smoke in my chest. Would she call this all a mistake? What wasthis allanyway? A quick encounter in the kitchen because I’d showed up all antsy and ready to see her, only to find her happy to see me and I’d lost my mind?
I braced for the words, the bad news, praying whatever she was trying to find would come quickly and put me out of my misery.
When she glanced up, she had the most angelic look on her face. Something warm and vulnerable and more than a little apprehensive. “I’m in. For whatever this is. I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet or not, but… I’m in.”
