The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue #2) - Jessica Hawkins Page 0,12
ahh around us. I draw my head back and look at her. “Now that was a kiss.”
“Put me back,” she says, and I realize her entire body is tense.
“Not until you admit that was good,” I say. “I work out, Amelia—I can hold you like this all night.”
She looks from side to side and lowers her voice as if she doesn’t want anyone to hear. “Fine. As far as second kisses go, that ranks pretty highly.”
I inhale a deep breath. “Not second kiss. First.”
She wriggles in my arms, but I tighten my hold. While she’s looking for an escape, I kiss her again, and this time, I go for the tongue. She stops squirming. Her mouth tastes like every man’s dream—pizza, beer, and a promise of what’s to come later.
“I’ll keep going,” I whisper against her mouth.
She rolls her eyes, but her body relaxes just a hint. Again, I wonder how she’ll be once I strip her down and have her at my mercy. Will she keep up this futile struggle for control? I look forward to finding out.
“All right,” she concedes. “You’ve won me over. What an amazing first kiss. Put me back.”
“Not yet. Ask me my name like you’re dying to know it.”
“I told you, I don’t take orders from anyone.”
“Neither do I.”
We engage in a full-on stare down. Suddenly, she sighs and slides her arms around my neck. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.” She shocks me with a slow, sensual kiss, the kind reserved for long-lost lovers recently reunited. Her back arches, and her tits press against my chest, right over my heart as it starts to pound. My cock nudges against my fly. With a groan, my arms go to jelly, and I slide a hand down her lower back, toward her sweet, sweet—
She shoves me off, leaping back. “Ha!” Her expression is smug. “Getting you to cave was easier than I thought it’d be. Who’s in charge now?”
Empty-handed, out of breath, and sporting a tent for pants, I narrow my eyes on her. “All right,” I say to appease her. I’ll prove her wrong later, but first I need to get her in bed. “You’re in charge.”
“Thank you.”
As I retrieve our things off the ground, she mumbles something.
“What was that?” I ask, standing.
“The first first kiss?” she says. “I lied. It was pretty up there too.”
I let my grin happen slowly, just to make her squirm. “So you were tricking me into a real kiss.”
“I don’t play games.” She takes her food from me and continues walking. Over her shoulder, she throws, “When I want something, I go after it.”
With a few long strides, I’m at her side again. “It’s Andrew, by the way.”
She looks over at me. “I guess that’s more convenient than calling you Sadie’s brother.”
Shit. Sadie! She and Bell should be at her apartment by now. I toss my empty beer to get out my phone, but I have no missed calls, no texts. Nothing.
“Is that Sadie?” Amelia asks, assuming I have a call.
“No, sorry.” I put my cell away, even though I’d like to check in with them. I can wait a little longer. Can’t I? It’s barely been an hour. That’s a whole hour without thinking about my daughter, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Even when I’m working at the garage, I still wonder what she’s up to at school.
“Tonight stays under wraps,” she says.
I return my attention to Amelia. “Sorry?”
“This.” She nods between us. “I don’t want Sadie to know. I’m not only her boss—she also knows a lot about my history with Reggie.”
“Oh.” I rub my eyebrow as my mind shifts gears again, but not without some creaking. I’ve been at Bell’s beck and call for almost four years straight, ever since her mom left. Doesn’t that earn me a night off? I’m not sure it does, or that I even want one. “I don’t really keep things from Sadie,” I say.
I finish off my pizza and trash the plates. Then again, Sadie gave me about six months after Shana left before she got on my case about dating, even though I’ve repeatedly told her I’m done with relationships. For that reason, I don’t want her to know about Amelia, or she’ll make something out of nothing. “But yeah. I agree. That’d be best.”
“Thanks.”
“What does your history with Reggie have to do with it, though?”
Amelia shrugs. “I’ve confided in Sadie a lot. She knows how I feel about men.”