Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Reed. Is. Kissing. Me.
And it may be the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. My hands go to his chest, fingers flexing down into his muscles as Reed’s hands move from my shoulders to my face. He groans when the tip of his tongue touches mine, moving his body closer to mine.
My head spins, the world dips, and I start to drift away to a place where nothing exists except for Reed’s kiss.
My friend’s kiss.
Friend.
Reed is my friend.
I tear my mouth free of his and take a step back, my chest heaving with a distinct lack of oxygen, which he seems to have sucked from my lungs. Reed’s eyes are fevered looking, his expression determined. He’s clearly not feeling anything but in the moment, whereas I have gone all worried, neurotic woman on him.
“What are we doing?” I say in between panting breaths. My fingers curl and flex into my palms, itching to pull him back to me.
“I was kissing the fuck out of you,” he mutters, and takes a step toward me. “Going to do it again once you get this out of your system.”
“Get what out of my system?” I ask, completely miffed at him for downplaying my right to be concerned about this.
“Whatever worries you’ve got going through that pretty head of yours,” he replies smoothly.
“We’re friends,” I blurt out.
“Yup,” he says matter-of-factly, palms still cupping my face as he peers down at me. “And I’m no expert, but I feel like that made the kiss better, right?”
“Um…right.”
Reed grins at me, his eyes shining with amusement and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. But then I don’t see him anymore because my eyes close involuntarily when he kisses me again.
And I start to slip away again. Overwhelmed with such intense feeling that he’s provoking, I’d happily stay lost. There have been countless times I’d imagined this. At first, I felt bad about lusting after a friend, but then I realized it was inevitable. Reed can’t continue to be such a good guy, coupled with his gorgeous face and body, for it not to happen.
I just never thought it could ever be real, because I am not his type.
Or am I?
The kiss sure seems to be an indication that we’re suited in one way.
The pressure of Reed’s mouth lessens and he pulls back enough to mumble against me, “Okay…let’s slow this down and figure out what we’re going to do for dinner.”
This pulls me right back to reality, and without thinking, I grab Reed’s belt and try to jerk him closer to me as I press my mouth back to his. He jerks in surprise, because who would have thought little Josie Ives would be so bold, but then he’s kissing me hard again.
For a long, glorious moment he kisses the daylights out of me, and only one stupid thought goes through my head.
Thank God I put on sexy underwear.
“Okay,” Reed blurts out as he gently pushes me back in a sudden move that has me blinking. “We definitely need to slow this down or I can’t be responsible for what happens to you.”
I continue to blink at him, my lips tingling and my legs shaking. He stares back at me thoughtfully, his hands still on my face, thumbs skimming my cheekbones.
Finally I manage to take a shaky breath, and when I let it out I say, “I don’t understand. Why do you want to slow it down?”
Reed’s eyes soften and his smile is so sweet it almost makes my heart break. “Because I like you, Josie, and you’re not a notch in my bedpost.”
I give a hard shake of my head. “But I wouldn’t be.”
“I respect you too much to try to push this fast,” he counters firmly. Like he’s given this a lot of thought.
“I don’t even know what this is,” I tell him softly. “But if I may be so bold as to say, I don’t want to slow it down.”
Now Reed is the one blinking in surprise. I can tell by the look on his face he never once thought that I might be as attracted to him in this way as he clearly is to me. I see the realization in his face that a slow seduction might not be needed, because I might actually want something more than a buddy-type friendship with him.
“Are you sure about this, Doc?” he asks, reverting back to his friendly nickname for me, perhaps as a reminder to me that we were friends first, and that is exactly what’s at stake here.
I lift an eyebrow and give a teasing little tug on his belt. “You started this, Reed. You can’t take that kiss back, and I don’t want to wait anymore to see what comes after it. I’m a big girl.”
“I know that,” he says dryly, but his smile is endearing to me. “I just want you to know that you’re not like my Barbie squad. I’ll take it slow if you want.”