Page 38 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
When he could bear it no longer, he kissed her. It was a soft brush of his lips against hers, slow and sweet, but then she made a little whimper, fingers digging into his waist, and his restraint snapped.
He kissed her properly, his blood roaring. His entire body lit aflame. A moment in and he was already desperate for her, to explore every inch, to touch her everywhere.
Surely he had enough experience now to let her know she wasn’t a bad kisser. Surely he should stop. The decent thing to do would be to stop.
But then she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him closer, and he couldn’t help it, he went with her, chasing her mouth with his. Then they were horizontal, his hands over her shoulders on the grass as he kissed her and kissed her, his every movement frantic and hungry.
His heart pounded fiercely as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she made a low sound in the back of her throat. He wanted to find out everything she liked, and only do that for the rest of his life. He could picture it so clearly, doing this again and again. Doing everything with her.
He needed to stop. Right now, or he never would.
Theo pulled away, his breathing ragged. He sat down, catching his breath, trying to remember his own name. He had no idea of anything, let alone what they had been talking about before this, until slowly, it came back to him.
She had been worried she was a bad kisser. This had only been an experiment.
Theo cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. “So. I don’t think your kissing is a problem,” he managed to say.
Lavinia didn’t respond. For once, she was quiet.
Theo had half a mind to say she needed practice just so she would practice with him, but then he glanced at her, the swollen pink of her lips, and he couldn’t pull off such a deceit. He couldn’t bear it if she thought she was a bad kisser, because she wasn’t, she really, really wasn’t.
And he was falling in love with her.
Fear beat through him at the realization.
Without another word, he bolted.
Chapter 15
Lavinia could not believe she and Theo had kissed. She and Theo!
She was in her car, driving, and still thinking about it two days later. Every time she did, her entire body hummed with desire, a tingle going down her spine. She pressed her fingers to her lips, recalling the feel of his mouth on hers, and the memory made her pulse quicken.
The way he had kissed her. She had dreamt about it the last two nights, but in her dreams, they hadn’t stopped there. At the thought of her salacious dreams, she opened the window, getting some cold air in and trying to catch her breath.
Lavinia had hardly remembered her own name after, let alone what had even transpired to bring about such a situation.
“He only kissed you to make you feel better,” Lavinia reminded herself. To assuage her qualms, to reassure her that she was in fact a good kisser, and that that wasn’t the issue with Calahan.
“He’s your best friend!” Lavinia scolded herself. “Why else would he volunteer to kiss you?”
Even so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something between them, something undeniable and fierce. She had felt it, deep in her bones. She thought he might have felt it, too, with the desperate way he had pressed her body into the grass with his.
Until he had pulled away first.
He had bolted. He had run as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.
He hadn’t even said goodbye! Or walked her to her car! This was the first time she could recall in their entire seventeen-year friendship that he hadn’t said bye to her.
He had texted her the next morning to apologize for that, but he hadn’t given any explanation. She had just thumbs-up reacted to the message because she didn’t know what to say either.
Ugh! It was all so confusing!
There was no time to dwell on it any longer; Lavinia had arrived at her destination. She was at Aiden’s cottage, where Saphira had invited Lavinia over for Friday-night dinner along with Genevieve, Emmeline, and Theo.
Aiden’s cottage—now his and Saphira’s—was a cute little place not too far away from Main Street. It was nestled in the hills, and the houses in this area were spread apart and private. As Lavinia stepped out of her car, it was nice and secluded; she listened to the crickets chirping, the leaves rustling.
She knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal Aiden and Saphira, his hand on her waist. Saphira was wearing a pleated brown skirt with a pink sweater on top, while Aiden wore dark brown trousers and a beige top, his outfit complementing hers. They looked gorgeous together, picture-perfect.
