Page 32 of Teasing You

“Sounds like a challenge to me,” she said before finishing her wine. Glancing at the table, she said, “Let me help you get this cleaned up so we can have dessert.”

They both stood and were standing close.

Very close.

Ashlynn looked up at him and knew what she wanted to do, but thought Reid probably wouldn’t appreciate her taking the initiative again. No doubt he’d think she was going to kiss him and walk away again.

And she silently promised herself to curb her impulsiveness, and if they happened to kiss, to not freak out or do something stupid.

Don’t you dare walk away this time…

Neither of them moved, and finally Reid made the first move, leaning in slightly. “It’s okay, you know,” he whispered.

“What is?”

“If you wanted to try the whole kissing thing again. There’s no pressure and nothing you have to fear from me, Ashlynn. I didn’t invite you up here for any other reason than to apologize and make sure things were good between us.”

She almost moaned at the sound of that because she imagined things could be very good between them.

Swallowing hard, she figured she owed him some honesty. “It wasn’t you, Reid. That was all…I have a lot of baggage. Stuff that I don’t really like to talk about. But…I really would like to kiss you again and I promise that I’m not going to push you away or…or ask about dessert.” She gave him a weak smile and prayed she didn’t sound like some sort of babbling idiot.

But when she looked up and met his gaze, it was so damn sexy that she figured she was alright.

“Reid?”

“Hmm?”

“Kiss me. Please.”

He closed the distance between them. “Sweetheart, I thought you’d never ask.”

It was better than he remembered.

Ashlynn was warm and pliant in his arms and even though he could tell she was holding back a little, he knew it wouldn’t be long for them to get back to that place they were before.

They were standing next to his kitchen table, and he slowly began maneuvering them across the room. It was like a choreographed dance and they were completely in sync with each other until they slowly lowered themselves down on the sofa.

Carefully—slowly—his arm banded around her waist as he drew her closer. Her arms wound around his shoulders as they both sort of sank into the kiss.

And yeah, they were back.

Everything was the same, but different. There was a different energy coming off of Ashlynn tonight; it was like she kicked away that badass attitude and was finally letting herself relax. He had dozens of questions he wanted to ask, so many places on her body he wanted to touch, but more than anything, he wanted to keep kissing her.

Tonight had been a major risk. When he came home and saw her car in the parking lot, he knew he wanted to see her. But he also knew he would have to come up with a way that would make it almost impossible for her to push him away again. So he cooked and cleaned and when everything was almost ready, he stomped around and turned on his drill and then circular saw just for the sake of making noise. He knew if he kept at it long enough, she’d get mad and come banging on his door.

Luckily, the risk paid off because she did show up and was now in his arms.

And it was glorious.

She hummed softly as she moved even closer, and Reid felt breathless and full of anticipation of what she was going to do next. All he knew was that so far, she wasn’t pushing him away, so to him, that was a definite win.

His hands roamed over her back, hers played with his hair before running down his shoulders and arms, and he wasn’t sure who pulled back first, but suddenly they were both breathing hard with their eyes locked on each other. He felt like maybe he should say something, but she beat him to it.

“I don’t care about brownies or tiramisu,” she said huskily. “The only dessert I want right now, is you. “Then she licked her lips and pulled him down until he was practically on top of her as they reclined against the cushions.

Reid swore he would gladly give up chocolate if this were a dessert option.

Ashlynn’s arms went back around him followed by her legs, and he swore this felt a little like heaven. He had no idea how they had gotten to this place or why she was even giving him a chance, but he was damn glad that she was.