left, listening as she locked the door to her apartment, then he walked down the two flights of stairs and out into the chilly night.
Tugging his coat around him to ward off the frigid February wind, Padraig walked to his apartment, trying to wrap his head around what he’d just done. What he’d felt.
He hadn’t kissed a woman since Mia. And he hadn’t expected it to—fuck—affect him like that. One touch and it was as if he’d lost all sense of time and place. And there was no question in his mind that if she hadn’t pushed him away, he would have dragged her back to her bedroom, tossed her down on that mountain of clothes, and…
And what?
He would have had sex with Emmy.
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as he let that idea play out.
He would have slept with her.
As that reality sank in, he waited for it. The guilt, the pain, the confusion. Any of that. Maybe all of it.
It didn’t come.
What the fuck did that mean?
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. Colm answered on the third ring.
“What’s up, bro?” Colm asked.
Padraig didn’t mince words. He didn’t have to with his twin. “I kissed Emmy tonight.”
“Good for you.”
Padraig snorted and rolled his eyes. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got for me?”
“What do you want me to say, Paddy?” Colm asked. “Because if you’re looking for someone to chastise you or tell you it was a mistake, you called the wrong number.”
He swallowed hard and said the one thing that kept coming back to him. “I…I didn’t think about her.” That was the part that was the most shocking to him. The entire time he was kissing Emmy, she was all he could see, smell, taste, think of.
He’d expected Mia to be there, always in the back of his mind. But she’d been absent.
Once again, Colm didn’t need clarification. Sometimes it seemed as if they shared a hive mind. “That’s good. Progress. Means you’re ready to move on.”
Then Padraig heard Kelli’s voice in the background, and Colm said, “He kissed Emmy.” That was followed up with, “Dammit, Kell! I’m talking,” before Colm said, “fine. Here.”
“Paddy.” Kelli’s voice came through the phone, and he grinned. Before Emmy came along, Kelli had been his best friend, the one he told everything. Then his brother opened his eyes and realized Kelli was actually the woman of his dreams. Since then, Kelli had become something so much better than a friend. Padraig now had a sister. One he adored and loved.
“Hey, Kell.”
“So you finally pulled your head out of your ass. ’Bout damn time.”
Padraig started to reconsider the adore part. “She’s joined one of those online dating things.”
“I know.”
Padraig approached the front of his building but hesitated before going in. “She has a date this week.”
“I know that too. And you’re going to resist the alpha male voice in your head that’s screaming she’s yours and let her go on that date.”
Padraig was surprised by Kelli’s insistence. “Kelli, I—” he started.
“She doesn’t have a lot of dating experience.”
“Yeah. I sort of figured that out.”
Kelli huffed as if that should explain something—anything—to him. “You need to let her go on that date because it will show her what those of us who spent way too long in the playing-the-field pool already know. Dating sucks.”
“What if she likes the guy?”
While he couldn’t see her face, he could hear the eye roll in her voice. “Did she kiss you back?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s crazy about you, Paddy. Remember, you were the first guy she asked out back before Christmas. And like a dumbass, you turned her down and said you couldn’t be more than just friends.”
He frowned. “That was a mistake.”
“Of course it was. But the fact is, you were her first choice. And after a couple of awkward dates with strangers, she’s going to figure out you’re also her only choice.”
“So I shouldn’t go back to her place tonight?”
“Absolutely not. You’re thinking with your dick right now. Give your other head a chance to catch up. Because Emmy’s not the only one who needs some time and space to come to grips with what’s finally happening. Let the dust settle on the kiss.”
Kelli was right. He was acting on impulse, still turned on from that kiss. “Okay. You’re right.”
“Music to my ears. Wish I’d had the phone on speaker so Colm could’ve heard you say that.”
Padraig chuckled.
“Besides,” Kelli continued, “you’re going to be wicked slammed this week, working to get the