took everything Marc had not to turn around and see if she was flushed. Because he was so turned on he was about to burst. Which was why he asked, “Did you like it?”
She was quiet for so long he was afraid she wouldn’t answer. Then he heard a slight rustling and a warm, gentle hand settled on his shoulder. He could feel her brush up against his back, which made all sorts of stupid things happen to his front.
“I’ll answer, but this will be your last question. I’ll still have two left, and I get to choose the last one for you. Deal?”
Truth or dare had never been this much of a turn-on when he was a kid. If it had been, he would have spent all of high school playing it instead of drinking with his buddies. Giving control over to her raised the stakes, taking it from a turn-on to erotic as hell, and they weren’t even naked. “Deal.”
“Yes. I couldn’t look away. Now it’s my turn,” she whispered, her breath teasing his ear. “Truth or dare.”
“Truth,” he said, because he wanted her to ask him about that night.
“That first time you took me to the Napa Grand, when we broke in that day, you leaned in to kiss me, and then stopped. Why?”
“Because the day before, Jeff told me that he was going to ask you out.” Marc had been considering the same thing, but his friend seemed so spun over Lexi he backed off. And had regretted it ever since. “And I didn’t kiss you on graduation night and every other time I saw you because he was my friend. And no matter how many times you broke up, you always got back together. And no matter what happened, no matter how much I wanted you, you’d always be my best friend’s girl.”
“Oh.” He heard her swallow. “Okay, since I know how you love risks, you are going bold on the last one. You choose dare.”
“I do?” he groaned.
“Oh, you do.” Her hands cupped his shoulders and slid forward until her fingers interlaced at his collarbone and her breasts were pressed against his back. “I dare you to finish what you started the other night at the town hall.”
“Lexi,” he groaned, closing his eyes.
“You promised me a lesson in kissing that was supposed to take me to second base, but I distinctly remember being interrupted before we rounded first.”
He rested his hands on top of hers. Denying her this was going to be the hardest thing he ever had to do, but he knew if he touched her he wouldn’t be able to stop. Ridiculous as it might sound, kissing her in front of everyone didn’t seem like the betrayal that kissing her like this would be. He didn’t want to be that guy.
“Lexi, we can’t.”
She scooted around until she was kneeling in front of him, her legs tucked up under her dress and her face inches from his. “It’s a dare. You have to.”
“I’m not going to betray a lifelong friendship on a dare.”
He saw the hurt flash in her eyes. “You already kissed me.”
“I know.” That was the problem. When he was with her, everything felt so right. But being with her challenged everything he’d based his relationships on. All because when he was fourteen, his buddy had called shotgun first. How fucked up was that?
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Jeffery is your best friend. He was my first love. We dated, married, and he left me for another woman. This wouldn’t be a betrayal. I’m ready to move on. And I have a divorce decree and a pair of red silk panties that trumps man law.”
“Does the bra match?” he asked, feeling a boyish grin kicking up the side of his lips, as though her answer could change his entire world.
“Yes. But I agree kissing because of a dare is stupid. If you kiss me, kiss me because you want to.”
“Oh, I want—” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Because if he didn’t, he would tell Lexi that it wasn’t the betrayal of Jeff he was worried about. It was the thought of betraying her.
The kiss started out gentle, sweet. It was the kind of kiss he’d imagined giving to her when they were teenagers. The kind of kiss that a woman like Lexi deserved. Slow and thorough, with enough heat to let her feel how special she was, how much he wanted her—how much he’d always