When Stars Collide (Second Chance Romance #2) - Sara Furlong-Burr Page 0,6
before stripping you naked?”
“Now what sense would that make, since we both know that’s the second-best thing we do together?”
“That’s so very true, but it’s a close second.” Peter pulled me away from the wall, carrying me across the kitchenette through the French doors that led straight to the bedroom of the suite Luke reserved for us at the Carlson Smith Mountain Lake Hotel as a thank you to Peter for helping him with the proposal.
“Are you sure you’re steady enough on your feet there, Mr. Icanstillhanglikeatwentyoneyearold?”
“Is that a challenge?”
“More like a concern, considering I’m the one in danger of being dropped if something were to go terribly wrong.”
“O ye of little—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Peter stumbled over his own two feet. In the split second that it became apparent that he wasn’t going to regain his footing, and with me still securely in his arms, he managed to angle his body backwards, so that when he fell onto the bed, I landed firmly on top of him.
“Nice landing, Captain Sully.”
“Are you all right?” he asked, searching my body with his hands.
“I’m fine … but I would be even better if there was less clothing involved.” Grasping the hem of his shirt, I slid it up to his chest. He took over from there by tugging it the rest of the way over his head.
“That’s better. I may now forgive you for almost killing me.”
I expected his usual smart-ass retort—that he would attempt to go toe-to-toe with me until our clothes had disappeared and we were expressing our passion in ways that would later make me flustered when I replayed everything over again in my mind back home in New York. But that’s the funny thing about expectations, they’re often just that, never becoming anything more. His expression softened, almost like the fall had succeeded in sobering him up, and he was looking at me as though he was truly seeing me for the first time.
“I love you, Mena Straszewski.”
My jaw dropped at around the same time my mind went completely blank. Every thought, each and every response, made a break for it, leaving me to fend for myself.
“Never would I have guessed that I would ever see you finding yourself completely at a loss for words.” Peter chuckled, lightly rubbing my thigh with the tip of his thumb.
“Peter, I … well, I—”
“It’s okay. I know I just sprung that on you, and I didn’t expect you to respond in kind. In fact, I didn’t want you to respond at all.” He looked me in the eyes, his azure pools searching my face for any signs of betrayal that would provide him with a clue as to what I was thinking. “I want to know for certain that when—if—you ever say it back to me, that you’re doing so because you truly feel it and not because you’re afraid of bruising my fragile ego.”
“Since when have you ever known me to give a hot damn about not only bruising egos, but flat-out annihilating them?”
He smiled. “I just wanted to give you that disclaimer so the rest of this night wouldn’t get all weird and awkward, because then I would have had no choice but to make you sleep on the floor.”
“How generous of you.” I laughed, tickling the side of his torso, near his ribcage. He squirmed, an open invitation for me to keep going.
“Stop it.” He looked at me as sternly as he possibly could, but we both knew he was doing all he could do to keep from cracking up. Challenge accepted, I decided to push his buttons further, coming at him from both sides. “Okay, that’s it.” Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around my body, pinning my arms to my side.
“Well,” I proclaimed, surveying my present situation, “I guess you showed me.”
“And yet I don’t feel the least bit victorious.”
He released me from his grasp, and I found myself brushing a wayward strand of hair away from his face. “In all seriousness, though, thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” He traced the length of my jaw with his thumb as he spoke.
“Thank you for never pressuring me into do anything I’m not ready to do. For being so understanding, so patient, so kind. But mostly, thank you for being so damn hot, because let’s be honest, your personality alone wasn’t going to be enough to get you laid.”
“I really hate you sometimes.” He laughed in spite of himself.