Page 15 of Make Me Swoon

He nods, growing serious as the fast-paced pop song that was playing ends and a slow song starts to play. He moves closer, his hands gripping my hips as my hands go to his shoulders.

I feel flushed and I try to tell myself that it’s just from the heat and dancing, but I know that that’s not it. At least not all of it.

Hudson moves closer to me, his warm breath fanning some of the loose hairs at my temple and I swallow hard, looking up into his dark blue eyes.

“Lyla,” he whispers, his eyes wide and honest. “I can’t get you out of my head.”

I want to pretend that I can’t hear him over the music but that doesn’t seem right. I stare up at him, not sure how to respond.

“I can’t figure you out,” he goes on. “You’re an enigma to me and I’ve been trying to find a way in with you for but you’ve been keeping me at arm’s length.”

I look down, knowing that he’s right and his fingers tighten on my hips.

“I can’t take it anymore. I swear, this will be the last time that I ask you this.”

I look up at him, my eyes meeting his, and my heart starts to race.

“Lyla, will you go out with me?”

The question seems to hang in the air between us, and I want to say yes. It’s right there, but I can’t get my throat to work, I can’t seem to get the words out of my mouth, so I do the next best thing.

So instead of answering, I grip his shoulders, leaning up on my tiptoes until my lips meet his. Hudson seems surprised by the move but he catches up fast. My eyes flutter closed and Hudson’s hands move around to my back, drawing me closer until I’m flush against him, until I can feel every hard ridge and plane of his body.

We’re still swaying slowly, our hands wrapped around each other as our lips mold together, moving in sync. It’s nice to see that his rhythm problems don’t extend past the dance floor.

He tastes like the red wine that we had at dinner and something that is all Hudson. He takes over the kiss, one of his hands wrapping around the back of my neck as he changes the angle and deepens the kiss.

I don’t know how long we stay locked together, our bodies moving closer, grinding together and then swaying together for the slow songs. By the time we head back to our booth to grab something to drink, I’m a sweaty, horny mess.

“Hey, there you are!” Madelyn shouts over the music as I down the last of my lemon martini. “We were just saying that we think we’re going to call it a night.”

I nod, grabbing my purse from the booth and following after my friends as we make our way through the crowd and outside. I feel bad that I didn’t really hang out with them much tonight, but I have a feeling that I’ll be seeing them a lot tomorrow.

“We parked over here,” Sutton says and Madelyn nods, moving to head that way too.

“See you guys later,” I call and they all give me equally mischievous and knowing looks before they head down the sidewalk.

I’m sure that I’ll be answering questions all day tomorrow about what is going on between Hudson and me and that kiss on the dance floor.

Hudson takes my hand and I let him open my door for me and help me in. He’s smiling softly as he rounds the hood and slides behind the wheel and I’m not surprised when he picks up my hand again in his and holds it for the entire drive back to Destiny Falls.

The drive is mostly silent. It’s warm in the Range Rover and I’m tired from a long day. The soft sway of the car as it heads down the mountain and with Hudson gently stroking the back of my hand with his thumb, I must doze off. I wake up when he parks in his usual spot next to mine outside of Prim + Proper and my apartment.

I yawn as he turns the car off and unbuckles, rubbing my eyes to try to clear them of sleep.

“I’ll walk you up,” he says gently and I nod, grabbing my purse and letting him help me out of the car.

We walk up the stairs together and I dig my keys out of my purse as we go. I’m about to unlock the door when he turns me to face him. He cups my face, tilting my head until he has me where he wants me. Then he looks into my eyes, his fingers softly stroking my cheeks. I lick my lips, holding my breath, and he stares into my eyes.

He dips his head and the spell is broken. His lips meet mine and I get lost again in the taste and feel of him, in the angle of his head and the way his lips feel against mine.

He pulls back and I blink, trying to clear the fog from my head. He shoves a piece of paper in my hand, giving me one last smile, the dimple popping out in his left cheek, before he turns and heads back down the stairs.

I unlock the door and stumble my way inside, closing and locking it after me. I lean back against the door, dropping my purse onto the table next to me before I unwrap the note that he gave me.

I can’t help but smile as I read it.

Lyla,would you rather detect every lie you hear or get away with every lie you tell?

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