Page 47 of Hiss and Make Up
His hand was warm. Comforting. Right.
Even though she’d known this man beside her for only two days, she couldn’t deny that her heart recognized his. Thathewas her home.
He looked down at their hands and squeezed back. “I mean it. I’m really sorry I hurt you.”
“I know.” She did. She believed him. She knew it was old history, and she knew he didn’t mean to hurt her. She didn’t care about Kassie, not really. She only cared that he’d confused her then cut her off.
She released his hand and let her fingers slide away.
She couldn’t let him hurt her again.
“I was only trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what? You being a teenager? I didn’t need your protection.” She swallowed and dropped her head to look at his shoes while she blinked back tears. Gray sneakers with bright green stripes. Cute. Comfortable. Marc. “I needed my best friend. I didn’t need you deciding for me what I needed to know.”
“I get that. Now.” He stood in front of her, holding both of her hands, and leaned in to press his forehead against hers. When he pulled back, he looked directly at her, his face inches away. “What’s your decision now?”
Sierra’s heart lurched. She wanted to press her mouth against his, to continue where they’d left off in that empty parking lot.
But her brain knew better than her traitorous heart.
“I decided long ago to not let anyone disappoint me more than once.”
He gave a sly smile. One that spelled trouble. She could smell trouble in the air as clearly as she could smell the grease and wood and dust in that shop.
“What if I promise not to disappoint?” His deep, dark eyes flickered with teasing temptation. She could smell the lingering sweetness of bread pudding gelato on his breath.
She bit her lip to fight a smile. “Stooooop.”
He pulled his head back, and his face turned serious.
It took her a second to realize what was happening. She’d told him to stop, and he did. No argument. No pleading. He’d just stopped. Because she’d said to.
Her heart raced. This was the Marc she’d always wanted. The Marc who heard her. The Marc who respected her boundaries. The Marc who was standing right in front of her now.
“What I meant was stop talking and kiss me.”
Marc studied her for a few seconds, analyzing her signals, then his playful smile returned.
Sierra squeezed his hands at her sides and met his lips with hers. They kissed softly, testing out this new thing between them. Waiting for this moment to dissolve, for the rush to fall away and for one or both of them to realize this was a mistake.
But it didn’t go away. The heat Sierra felt only intensified. The urge to kiss him grew stronger, even though her mouth was already pressed against his. His tongue found its way inside her mouth.
The kiss a few hours earlier had been a reintroduction. A transition between that sweet, simple kiss they’d had years ago and this. There was no more awkwardness. She wasn’t kissing some boy from down the street. This was all new territory.
Sierra released his hands and slid hers up his arms to rest her palms against his chest. She fought the urge to push him away. She was so used to pushing everyone away. But even her brain had stopped screaming that this was a bad idea and joined her heart.
Pressing her hands against his chest, something inside her realized that for once she didn’t want to push him away. Not anymore.
Marc slid his own hands up and found her face, holding it while his kisses became more urgent. Hard. Desperate.
She stumbled backward under the weight of his insistence. He steadied her with one hand around her lower back, pulling her even closer. She grabbed his shirt in her fists and followed as he walked them both back a couple of steps. Sierra landed against a rolling cart which they pushed until it bumped into something solid.
Marc pressed himself against her, pinning her between him and the rolling cart pressing into her backside. When she winced, he eased back, allowing her to shift into a more comfortable position. The warmth of his kiss sent electricity surging through her mouth then further down in places that had been missing a jolt like that for far too long.
A soft moan escaped her lips as he kissed along the side of her neck. Sierra released her grip on the front of his shirt to lift it up and over his head. Then she ran her hands up his smooth, bare back and pulled him close again.
A dog barked in the distance. The dog. Her dog now, she guessed. It was a yappy sort of bark, with an edge of insistence.
