Secrets of the World's Worst Matchmaker - Piper Rayne Page 0,1
know about my best friend.
He props me up higher in his arms. “Juno, get your keys out of your purse.”
I open my purse, a little disappointed that he rudely disregarded my compliment. “I don’t see them.” My fingers dig and dig. “Hmm.” I turn the purse upside down and the contents fall all over me.
Colton groans. “Seriously, Juno?”
“How else are we going to know if they’re in there?” I look on my stomach for anything that didn’t fall to the sidewalk and there they are. “Ah ha!” I pick them up as if I found a hundred-dollar bill on the street.
“Now let’s see if you can get it into the lock.”
I lean in close to him. “Are you challenging me, Colton Stone?”
“If it gets the key in the lock and you out of my arms quicker, then yes.”
I frown and turn my attention to the lock. Colton tries to move me when I miss by a millimeter to the right or the left. Eventually the key goes in, I unlock it, and voila, we’re in my apartment building.
He walks up the stairs and he sighs at the second door. “Let’s hope you can go two for two.”
I get the key in the lock on the first try and raise my hands with a smile.
Colton walks into my apartment and immediately disposes of me on the couch. “Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
He jogs back down the stairs. I kick off my heels and walk into my bedroom to change.
I have my dress half off when Colton walks in. “I told you to sit tight.”
His eyes flare at the sight of my lacy bra. I’m not sure why I wore a nice bra and panty set today, but right now, I’m happy I did. Although over the years, Colton’s seen my much less stellar undergarments.
I struggle for another second with my dress, but the zipper won’t cooperate.
“Come here.” He relents and breaks the distance between us when I continue to get the fabric caught in the zipper.
He’s showing little patience for my antics tonight, and I’m about to remind him of all the times I’ve nursed him back to health. Like that time he decided we should do a bar crawl in Anchorage with his buddy from college. That was a record two-day hangover.
Then his fingers are on my skin and my mind blurs. The softness of his touch and the smell of him so near calms my jittery body. It always does.
It’s one of the reasons I swore we’d never cross that line into a romantic relationship. Why I need him to be in my life forever and not for a brief affair that, if it ends badly, I’ll lose him. But all of that seems so senseless right now. My jealousy of his fiancée feels like a living, breathing thing inside me. I watch him work the zipper, the fabric releases, and I catch his eyes. He holds our eye contact.
I want him. I want him to promise me I won’t die alone. But I don’t want his words—I want his body weighing mine down on the bed. The slow roam of his hands along my body. His smoldering eyes says he’s thinking the same thing. He wants me too.
I rise on my tiptoes and my dress pools around my ankles. His gaze dips down, and the fire in his eyes suggests I’ve sparked his interest.
“Juno,” he whispers.
I put my finger to his mouth and press my lips to the hollow of his neck. I continue to place light kisses up his neck and across his jaw. His stubble only spurs thoughts of his face between my legs. If only for tonight, I need him.
Abruptly his hands grip my upper arms and he pushes me away. “You know we can’t.”
As if someone snapped me out of a hypnosis, my eyes pop open.
“Thanks for the ride home,” I say and step away from him.
“Juno, let’s talk. I mean…” He stops when I turn my back to him and crawl under the covers of my bed.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve never done that. You can go home to Brigette now.” And I do mean my apology, but the embarrassment flooding every cell in my body is controlling me right now. I threw myself at an engaged man. What the hell is wrong with me?
The bed dips by my feet. “I’ll stay. Make sure you don’t get sick again.”