Page 105 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Surprising him, she stepped into his space. He inhaled the scent of her shampoo, all that was Everly. The list crinkled in his hand. Her eyes darted down to it, then back up.
“That list has good reasons on it,” she whispered.
His heart felt like a blinker on the fritz. “I’m sure it does. Why are you here?”
Chris didn’t know how much longer he could stand there, looking at her, inhaling her, without saying to hell with it and kissing her like he’d wanted to for twelve long months.
Everly pressed her hand to the same spot she’d slapped the list. Her brows drew together as her palm flattened over his out-of-control heart. The look she gave him sparked something so deep inside of him, it felt like his entire being was on fire.
“I’m here because there’s nothing I can write down on any list that will getyouout of my mind. As much as I’ve tried to force it, my heart refuses to be logical. I have no idea how this will end, but I know if I don’t try, I’ll regret it. I’m so scared of absolutely everything. You understand that, right? You do. I know you do. So, it should tell you something that more than anything right now, I’m scared of not taking this chance. Of not taking the leap. With you. Regardless of how I land.”
It was a good thing his jaw had already opened during her speech, because it would have dropped to the floor when she flattened her body against his. Fisting her hand in his shirt, she went up on her tiptoes, locking her other arm around his neck.
Something inside of him broke. Or maybe it mended. Righted itself. His hands moved without permission, tunneling into her hair, knocking pins to the ground as he captured her face between them. His mouth moved, touched hers, and that first taste unleashed everything he’d held back and tried to ignore. Her lips were intoxicating, the little sound she made in the back of her throat electrifying.
She was right there with him, pressing her gorgeous body in that beautiful dress as close as she could, kissing him like he was air and she’d gone without it too long. One of his hands streaked down her back while the other stayed tangled in her hair. She let out a sexy little gasp when he changed the angle, took the kiss deeper, touched his tongue to hers, and did his best not to swallow her whole.
The depth of his desire threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn’t touch enough of her at once. Hands sliding over her subtle curves, Chris picked her up, letting her feet dangle above the floor. It was easy to reach her this way but still not enough. Without breaking the kiss, he walked into his apartment, kicked the door shut with his foot. Her arms locked around his neck.
Turning them, he pressed her back to the door and brought both hands to her ass, boosted her up so he could get closer. Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his waist. It still wasn’t enough. There was no such thing as close enough to Everly Dean.
He’d dreamed about kissing her more times than he could count. It was beyond anything he could have imagined. That quiet, introspective nature was nowhere to be found as she took what she wanted from the kiss, let her hands run up his back, into his hair. The sexy contrast of softness and strength turned him on to an alarming degree.
He told himself to slow down, even as her lips traced a path down his cheek, along his neck, making him whisper her name. Their heartbeats were erratic. He didn’t know whose was beating harder, but he felt like they were nearly in tandem. When her mouth found his again, he gentled this kiss. He pressed his lips to her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, then leaned back only enough to breathe. With one hand, he smoothed back the tendrils of hair he’d knocked loose. His head spun, his pulse was a live wire setting off every nerve in his body.
Everly shuddered in his arms. He couldn’t stop touching her, staring at her, scared this moment might not be real. She smiled up at him, her cheeks flush, her eyes burning into his, the soft contours of her body nestled against the hard planes of his. She was real. Chris pressed his forehead to hers, wanting to imprint this on his soul. God, she was precious.
“Why did you wait so long to tell me how you felt?” Her hands moved over his face, his jaw, caressing his cheeks as if she were memorizing the feel of him under her fingers. He caught one hand, kissed each of her fingertips.
“For all the reasons you already said. I’m your boss. We work together.”I’m leaving. Fuck. I’m leaving.He breathed in and out, refusing to worry about that right now. He’d figure something out.They’dfigure something out. After. After they sorted through this part.
“I didn’t even think you liked me until six weeks ago.” Her fingers played in his hair, and her nose brushed against his in the sweetest of touches.
He groaned. “Self-preservation. Easier to keep you at a distance.”
She rolled her hips and tightened her arms around his neck. “I don’t like the distance.”
A rough laugh escaped him, and he kissed her again, loving the taste of her lips, the scent of her skin, the feel of her against him. “Me either.”
He carried her over to his couch and sat with her still in hisarms. And then he did what he’d wanted to do practically since the moment he’d met her—he kissed her like there was nowhere else he needed to be and nothing else he’d ever wanted. He explored her with his hands and his lips as she did the same. Until time spun out and all he could think or breathe or feel was Everly Dean. Until nothing else existed other than this one woman who tied him in knots and set him free in the same moment. This was a woman worth fighting for. Worth making changes for. He couldn’t think about all the things he needed to tell her, what he’d need to do to make sure they could be together. It was too much and not enough all at once.
She pulled back. He’d lost track of time. Staring at him, her breath ragged, she touched his chest, met his gaze.
Covering her hand over his heart, he smiled up at her. “What happened? You said you made your choice. Why the change of heart?”
She laughed, low and sweetly. “It was less a change of heart than a decision tolistento my heart.”
His own heart flipped over in his chest. “I’m so glad.”
“I’ll choose you again and again and again,” she whispered.
His heart tumbled. Right into her hands. “I’ll choose you back.”
Tomorrow, he’d do whatever he damn well had to do to make that true. Because now that he’d kissed her, held her, touched her? He’d choose her over anything else.
[36]
Everly adjusted her pillows, then rolled to her side. She couldn’t sleep. Her body was vibrating with an energy she’d never felt. Owen had been so gracious when she’d explained that her heart belonged to someone else. Just saying it to him made her heart feel like it might implode. She’d had no idea what to expect with Chris, but she’d done it.
