Page 14 of The Heart Shot
I burst out laughing.
The camera resumed clicking.
Jameson chuckled along with me, his hazel eyes bright. “How very specific.”
“Do you disagree?” I echoed his earlier question.
His weight shifted before he took one of my hands in his and dipped me backward, as though we were in the middle of a dance. He held me there, the sunflowers behind him framing his face.
“Not at all.”
The breath fled my lungs as he pulled me up, twisting me around so that I was wrapped in his arms again.
“Isn’t it…exhausting being so happy all the time?” I blurted.
His brows rose. “I think it’smoreexhausting being constantly grumpy. Life is much more enjoyable when you look for rainbows instead of storm clouds.”
“Hey, that’s grumpyfirecracker,”I reminded him.
Jameson laughed. “Silly me, how could I forget.”
It was far too easy to get lost in his smile and hazel eyes. Far too easy to fall into him and enjoy his embrace. I needed to stop that line of thinking immediately because I shouldn’t be enjoying it. This shouldn’t be so easy and natural. Sometime in the last twenty minutes, the awkwardness fell away, and now it was only me and Jameson and the click of Maya’s camera. His eyes kept capturing mine, and I couldn’t find it in myself to look away.
At least, until my friend’s voice cut through the swoony fog over my mind.
“All right,” Maya declared. “Let’s see you kiss.”
Jameson
Elsie went still in my arms, her face turning redder than a beet.
“What?!” she shrieked, giving me a hard shove that caused me to stumble backward. Whatever chemistry had built between us was instantly gone. An annoying flash of hurt flickered through me, but I shoved it away. I wasn’t about to be upset that she didn’t want to kiss a guy she had just met.
Even if her lips were inviting, and the brief glimpse of her smile she’d given was mesmerizing. Even if she wasstunning,with those caramel-colored eyes with the tiniest specks of jade in them, wavy dark-blonde hair, and curves in all the right places. Sure, she was a little quirky, but her awkwardness only added to her charm.
“I said no kissing, Maya,” she growled.
Maya rolled her eyes. “On the cheek, Els. Calm down. Jameson,” she said, looking at me, “lean in slowly, and then hold a kiss on her cheek.”
Despite her request, I wasn’t about to do that if it wasn’t something Elsie wanted. The last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.
I took a step closer and whispered, “I don’t have to do that. Say no, and we’ll do something else.”
Elsie swallowed hard, her eyes locked on mine. For a moment, I wished I could read her mind. What was she thinking? My fingers twitched, begging to skim across her cheek, to memorize the feel of her skin. I was quick to shovethosethoughts away. I had only just met her, after all.
Even so, I’d never had an instant connection with someone. Did she feel it, too, or was it only me?
Finally, her eyes dropped to the ground, her shoulders loosening.
“It’s okay,” Elsie whispered back.
A slow smile spread across my face, warmth spreading along my limbs. It was an effort of self-control to lean forward as slowly as possible when all I wanted to know was how soft her skin would be against my lips.The heat of the day, the sweat pooling on my lower back, and any sign of her nerves faded away, my concentration solely focused on her skin mere centimeters from mine.
I closed my eyes as I pressed my lips against her cheek in a gentle caress. My fingers tightened on her waist, and I dared to pull her closer, our chests almost touching.
What was happening to me? I wasn’tthatguy.
I wasn’t the love-at-first-sight guy. I wasn’t the guy that instantly dove in. I tried to stay level-headed, not wanting to get too involved with someone unless I could see a future. I needed a warmup, like before a workout. But something about Elsie had me losing my inhibitions, my restraints disappearing entirely.
