Page 31 of My Lucky Star
“She... freezes,” Aria whispered, her mouth a couple of inches from mine. “With her lips parted, like she really wants to kiss you, but she never does. She holds there, waiting for your next move. Why is that?”
Her question threw me, but I didn’t ease my grip. “I don’t know. I suppose... it’s my job to kiss her.”
“So, you’d be turned off if a woman made the first move?”
I thought about this. “I’d be surprised. It doesn’t happen much, but I’m willing to experience it and let you know.” I winked at her, trying to mask my uncertainty.
She was getting under my skin, but I didn’t want her to stop.
Chapter 12
Aria
WAS HE DARING ME TOkiss him? Cem’s hands tightened around my waist, holding me so close I couldn’t think. I held still, listening to my own heartbeat. I felt it everywhere, like distant nightclub music, intensified by the rumble of the waterfall.
I slid my hands around his neck and let my gaze dip to his mouth. Such a perfect pair of lips, framed by a beard I wanted to touch. I wondered how rough it was, how much it would give under my fingers.
Stop staring.
I cleared my throat, letting the moment pop like a soap bubble. “Should we take some selfies?”
Cem kept one hand on my back and used the other to frame us and the waterfall on his phone screen. I grabbed the brim of my sunhat and leaned on his chest, forcing every doubt and worry out of my mind.
“Relax,” he rumbled into my ear.
I took a deep breath, and that’s when it hit me. I wasn’t here to impersonate Burcu. Not really. My number one job was to look like I was in love with him and if I was honest with myself, I didn’t struggle with that part. As soon as I let my thoughts go there, I felt it. That burning, wild and aching sensation poured through me like the water gushing over those rocks after the rain. Uncontrollable.
I didn’t know him. The emotion wasn’t real, but it could have fooled me.
His fingers drew circles on my lower back, flooding my body with heat, pumping blood to my core, spreading lower. I inhaled his spicy scent like an addict getting her fix, then lifted my lips toward his ear. I had to stand on my toes to get close enough. “Do you want to go in the water? I’m a bit hot.” It wasn’t because of the sun, but did it matter?
“I’ll go if you go.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the pond. It didn’t look deep, but it was probably freezing. “Deal.”
I hated cold water, but I must have had so many endorphins coursing through me I momentarily forgot. Not giving myself time to back out, I chucked my ballet flats and waded to the middle of the pond, so close to the waterfall I could no longer hear anything else. The roar drowned out my thoughts, making it easier to be.
