Go Away, Darling - Alexis Anne Page 0,22

then. I have to be at the field early tomorrow, so how about the day after?”

“Yes. I say yes.” Oh my god. I didn’t even sound like myself. I was never giddy.

His eyes dropped to my lips and held. “Good night, Liv.”

My heart began to pound. And I do mean pound. The sound filled my ears and forced my lungs to work harder. Chris wanted to kiss me goodnight. And even more importantly, I wanted to kiss him goodnight.

But he wasn’t going to because of Linc. Which meant if I wanted this kiss, I would have to be the one to initiate it.

I glanced into the house to be sure he was still asleep, and then crossed to Chris in two strides, cupping his face with one hand, my fingers sliding around his neck to his hair, and pulled his lips to mine.

If I thought the peck in the kitchen was overwhelming, then this was a full blown explosion. Lip contact quickly turned into full on make out as Chris groaned, tilted his head, and deepened the kiss. His arms went around me, and mine around him, our bodies pressing, moving, rubbing. Then my legs were around his waist. Did I jump or did he pick me up? I honestly had no recollection of the actions that got me there. I was too absorbed in the moment. Chris was warm and strong, his tongue was soft and urgent, the sounds coming from his chest made me feel powerful.

He turned and pressed my back against the column and I tore my lips from his to gasp, to gulp air. It was too much and not enough all at once.

Chris groaned again, his head dropping to my shoulder. “Well that escalated quickly.”

I laughed, running my fingers through his hair. “I liked it.”

He sucked a kiss at the joint between my shoulder and throat. “So did I. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

“Maybe the day after tomorrow.” It was high time Linc had a playdate with Emerson.

He looked up and the depth of emotions in his eyes took my breath away. “I won’t have much time, but whatever I have is yours.”

I unwrapped my legs and finally slid down to earth. “I understand.” Was I really going to do this to myself again? Date another athlete who was only home for scraps of time?

He dropped his forehead to mine and erased my doubts as he cupped my face, his thumb stroking my cheek. Yes. I was going to see where this went, even if it was a dead end. “Goodnight Olivia.”

“Goodnight Chris.”

7

Doesn’t sound familiar

Chris

“You look damn chipper,” Scott muttered as I slid him a cup of coffee.

“I am damn chipper.”

He grunted into his mug. “This because of Olivia?”

“I have a lunch date.” After my morning run and shower I had two hours before I needed to be on the road to the stadium and I was spending all of it with Liv.

“So it’s going well?”

Once again I felt conflicted on what to share. Could vocalizing my hope somehow cause it to evaporate? I knew that wasn’t possible, but it all felt too delicate to put too much pressure on, either. “I don’t know yet. Until I do, let’s keep it between us.”

He smiled wryly and grunted agreement.

“How was Grandma Kaine?”

Scott grunted again. “As usual, full of wisdom and caftans.”

He basically moved in after his surprise visit. With my schedule and distractedness, I hadn’t had time to pry the why out of my brother, but I was determined to do that soon.

“Just remember,” Scott said suddenly, “we’re all doomed until the old is new again.”

I stared at him for a few long moments wondering if he’d lost his damn mind. “What?”

He shrugged. “When we were struck by lighting. Remember what Grandma Kaine said? We wouldn’t find love until the old was new again.”

I kept staring at him because clearly Scott had lost his marbles in Hollyweird. It was one thing to entertain Grandma’s stories, it was another to believe them.

“Seriously.” He sat forward, ruffled his hair and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.”

“Why?” Why would he ever think about Grandma Kaine’s crazy ramblings? I loved the woman, she was my Grandma after all, but she was wacky. Always had been. She read tarot cards and went to psychics. She said lots of crazy things growing up. Sure, we were only struck by lighting the once, but still.

Scott sighed like he was carrying a heavy