Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,24

the wrangling I had to do to get him in and out of the tub. He loves it when he’s in there, but Connor definitely does not like to give up playing time to get clean.

“Hey,” I finally manage to say, crossing my arms over my chest in a futile attempt to keep him from seeing my nipples which are standing at attention now that he’s in front of me.

The word barely leaves my lips when he lunges forward to grab me, pushing me into my apartment and somehow managing to close the door behind us before his mouth slams down on mine.

All I can do is hold on. Mitchell completely takes over when his mouth touches mine. His arms wrap around my waist, pulling me into the hard warmth of his body as his tongue demands entrance to my mouth. I’m helpless to resist him, and the first touch of his tongue to mine has a moan escaping my lips. He swallows it with his kiss and my knees buckle as his tongue strokes mine.

Kissing a man with a beard is a new experience for me. Seth was always clean-shaven, even a little anal about it. He didn’t like scruff and would shave first thing in the morning and again right before bed. It was a little nuts.

Mitchell and his beard though? It’s a strange experience. The hair is scratchy, but soft at the same time. It rubs against the sensitive skin on my face and adds another dimension to the kiss.

Our mouths move together like we’ve been kissing forever. There’s no clashing of teeth or both tilting our heads in the same direction. It’s kind of magical the way we come together.

My arms reach up to wrap around his shoulders, and that’s what breaks his concentration on our kiss. Before I know what’s happening, he’s released me and is now standing a foot or more away from me.

What just happened?

“Fuck.” Mitchell is staring at me like he’s never seen me before and though my heart was just pounding because of our kiss, now it’s pounding due to the regret I can see in his eyes and I brace myself for what I’m sure is about to be his rejection. “I didn’t come here for that.”

His words cause pain to splinter through my chest and I flinch. Mitchell takes a step forward but freezes when I take a step back. Meeting his eyes is hard, but I force myself to do it anyway. I’m not about to cower away from him when he’s about to break my already shattered heart.

How does he have that kind of power over me already?

It shouldn’t be possible. We barely know each other, but knowing he regrets what might be the best kiss I’ve ever had hurts something deep inside me and I snap.

“Don’t.” His mouth opens like he wants to say something, but I don’t let him. “Just leave.”

Instead of doing what I ask, he comes for me anyway, and even though I want to run from him, my body refuses to move this time. His hands come up to cup my jaw and he forces my eyes to stay on his. “No. I’m not going to walk away or let you walk away this time. You think I regret what happened, that kissing you wasn’t the highest point in my year thus far. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

I feel like I should protest, but his words are so sincere I can’t even form the words to do it. The highest point in his year. Did he really just say that? Those words make me free like I’m floating, but I quickly come down to reality.

“What did you mean then? How many other ways can you mean it when you say you didn’t come here for that?”

His eyes narrow in either frustration or aggravation… maybe a combination of the two. “It means I didn’t come here to attack you, to force a kiss on you.”

“You didn’t do any of those things.” His words have me so confused. Clearly, he didn’t see that kiss the same way I did, something that’s proven when he makes a disbelieving sound in reaction to what I say. Wanting to make him understand, I’m the one cupping his cheeks with my hands and forcing his attention to stay on me. “Mitchell, you did not attack me. Honestly, that was the best kiss I think I’ve ever had. I loved that you wanted to kiss me so