Page 19 of Gift of You
I pressed my finger to the center of his lips, stopping him from finishing that sentence. His eyes widened behind those sexy glasses, and I could feel the little puffs of breath against my finger. Our chests heaved, my pulse raced, and my cock strained against the fly of my jeans. Days of pent-up sexual confusion coalesced into a single, crystal-clear thought. I wanted to kiss him.
In that moment, it was the only thing that mattered. Fuck whatever this sexual awakening was. Fuck the fact that he was a man. Fuck the fact that there’d been no one else since Ally. Louis was in my bookshop, his body pressed against mine, and I wanted him. I found him sexy. I found him interesting. I found him so damned attractive. I’d sort out the rest later.
I bent forward and replaced my finger with my lips. His were smoother than I’d expected. Warm and soft. Pliant. He returned the pressure, silently encouraging me to continue, so I took his jaw in my hands and angled his head for better access. When my tongue traced the seam of his mouth, he gasped, and I pulled away concerned that I’d gone too far.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked first, I?—”
“Uh-uh. If I don’t get to apologize, neither do you.”
“I think the circumstances are a little different here.”
“Okay, honey. Consent is definitely sexy, but you have mine. Okay? You are welcome to kiss the shit out of me. In fact, I encourage it.”
“Kiss theshitout of you?” I said with a smirk.
“Shut up. You know what I mean.”
I couldn’t help but smile. An honest-to-god grin. He was so ridiculous. And fun. He wasfun. Jesus. When was the last time I’d had any of that?
I leaned forward, but the moment our lips touched, the jangle of the bells had us springing apart. I hadn’t had a customer come in for over an hour, so of course this was the moment someone stepped into my store. I looked up to see Janelle, one of the town’s librarians standing in the doorway, desperately trying—and failing—to look like she hadn’t just walked in on me locked in an embrace with another man. Fuck. The whole town would know by dinnertime.
“What can I help you with, Janelle?”
“Oh. I hope I’m not being a bother.” The expression on her face said she was clearly delighted to be a bother. “I was just wanting to pick up my order from last week. I meant to do it the other day, but I got caught up in last-minute preparations for the holiday and ran out of time. I’m leaving tomorrow to go spend the week with my daughter’s family, and some of my gifts are in that order, so I just thought I’d pop in and pick it up. Otherwise,I would have just, um...” Her eyes darted between the two of us. “Come back tomorrow.”
The good news was that this little speech had been very effective in cooling down my erection. The bad news was that Janelle was just about as gossipy as they came. Honestly, it was a small town, so most folks were that way. I could only hope the fact that she was leaving tomorrow might prevent her from spreading the information too far.
I glanced at Louis, who had the guilty look of a kid who’d just been caught snooping on his Christmas gifts. I turned away from him and made my way over to the counter where I kept the books that had been ordered. Most had been picked up before the holiday, but sure enough, Janelle’s order was still sitting bundled on the shelf. I pulled it out, noting that she’d already paid, and handed it to her while forcing a smile. “Have a safe trip, Janelle.”
“Thank you. I’m sure we will. And you...” Her eyes flicked between Louis and me again, her smile overly bright. “Have a good rest of your day.”
She glanced between both of us one more time, then exited the shop.
The moment the door was closed behind her, Louis came rushing over. “Do you think she saw anything?”
“Oh, I’m sure she got an eyeful.”
“Do you think she’ll say anything.”
“I’m sure half the town already knows by now.”
“Shit. I’m sor?—”
I shot him a glare.
“Well, I am. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened.”
“Iwas the one who kissed you.”
“Yeah, but?—”
He stopped when I reached out and brushed my thumb along his jaw. “I don’t regret it.”
“You don’t?”
I sighed. “I would have liked some privacy while I sorted myself out, but no, I don’t regret kissing you.” I pinched his chin between my fingers. “In fact, I’d like to do it again.”
“Yeah?”
