The problem was that I didn’t want to.
Then, in an apparent attempt to conspire against me, the universe and the DJ put on the worst possible song.
“When I Fall in Love” started playing, and I said, “Oh no.”
“What is it?”
“This was my parents’ favorite song. Sometimes my memories come and go. There are days when I forget my mother’s laugh or the color of my father’s eyes. But then there are these memories that are so vivid, so light, that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. My parents would dance together, every night, to this song. I used to go out and sit on the stairs to watch them.”
His grip tightened on me. “That’s beautiful.”
Craig and Leighton came around on my right side. He twirled her, like the song was fast instead of a slow one. She nearly smacked into me.
“Oh, sorry about that,” she said, sounding out of breath.
“Are you okay, Anna Banana?” Marco asked, and it was like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room.
“That’s what my dad used to call me,” I said in an almost-whisper.
“I know,” he said while kissing the bridge of my nose.
Craig and Leighton danced away, but I was still in shock. He didn’t know; he couldn’t have. I hadn’t even told Catalina about it. It was a reasonable guess considering the words rhymed, but it still was a jolt to my system.
Marco stopped moving, and we stood there, holding each other, gazing into each other’s eyes.
I knew he’d said it for his brother’s benefit, to imply a close connection, that he was pretending. The problem was . . . I believed him. I believed in that connection, even though I logically knew it wasn’t real.
“I have a theory,” he said in a low, deep voice that sent shivers racing across my skin. “Do you want to hear it?”
More than anything. “Uh-huh” was what I actually managed.
“When your lips turn that shade of red . . . I think you want to be kissed.”
Another slam to my nervous system. “Say you’re right.”
“Let’s. Since I am.”
“Then . . . what do we do about it?” My head told me to stop. That I couldn’t do this, but my ovaries were making a very convincing counterargument to keep going.
“We should test my theory, don’t you think?”
“Here?”
“Not here,” he said, and I wondered why when the universe was giving Marco brains, charm, handsomeness, and abs, it also felt like he needed the world’s sexiest voice.
This was my chance. To tell him no, that we couldn’t do this. That it was a mistake.
Because I was scared. Scared that these feelings I had for him were only going to get bigger, and then he really would push Craig entirely out of the way.
And Marco didn’t like me that way. He was my friend. He’d told me that so many times. I was smart enough to know better. I couldn’t be in love with him and have him sympathetically tell me he was sorry, but he just didn’t feel like that about me.
Part of me was afraid that if Marco broke my heart, it might not ever heal.
I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I’d asked for that hickey, but I was about to take out the explosives and start fracking.
“Where?” I asked, feeling out of breath.
His eyes lit up. “Follow me.”
He took me by the hand and led me off the dance floor, through the ballroom, and out into a hallway. I had the presence of mind to toss my gum in a nearby trash can. He tugged on a couple of doors until he found one that opened. It was a darkened conference room, with long tables and office chairs. He closed the door shut behind us and stood too close to me.
Obviously, not too close if we were going to kiss, but too close for my current peace of mind. This had to be meaningless. He couldn’t know how desperately I wanted him to kiss me. All the times I’d daydreamed about it.
I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. This was about satisfying my curiosity. I would kiss him, and then I would know what it was like so I could stop wondering and move on.
That’s what I would focus on. “This is a good idea. You never know when a well-meaning grandmother or surprise mistletoe would have forced us into a situation where we had to kiss. Better to get it out of the way.”
A look of confusion furrowed his brow. “No one’s going to make us kiss, Anna. My grandma is not here, and it’s January.”
“There could be leftover mistletoe,” I said defensively.
He was so close. Not touching me but giving off all that masculine warmth that had the phantom feel of him against my skin. He reached down and took my hand, bringing it up to his mouth so that he could place a soft, hot kiss against it. I reached out with my other hand and pressed it against his chest to stay vertical, relying on his strength as my brain tried to shut off and let sensations take over.
“Anna, the only reason we should be kissing is because you want to.”
“I do.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think better of them. My whole body was aching with a thick, heavy desire. “For science,” I added so that I didn’t sound so pathetic.
“For science?” he repeated, his eyes dancing. He let go of my hand and put both of his hands on the sides of my face. “Should we be taking notes?”
I couldn’t respond. Some tiny part of my brain told me again to leave, to not let this happen. But I didn’t care.
When all of my blood returned to the correct spots in my body, I was probably going to care, but right now?
The only thing I cared about was his lips touching mine.
“So many things to research,” he mused as he moved his head down toward me. I held my breath. If he didn’t kiss me soon, I was most likely going to pass out.
Heck, that was probably going to happen either way.
“What does it taste like?” His lips were hovering over mine, tantalizingly out of reach. “Is it sticky? Smooth? How durable is it?” He shifted his head to the right. “Will it end up all over my lips?”
The suspense was both achingly sweet and maddening.
I put my arms around his neck, clasping my hands behind him. “If it did get on you, what color would your lips be?” I asked, feeling a little braver. Like he was lending me some of his confidence.
“Dark red,” he said.
He was teasing me, and he was waiting. Every nerve ending I possessed was vibrating with anticipation and want. The air was charged around us, like lightning was about to strike. So I said what he wanted me to say. That it was just me, just him. This wasn’t about any kind of experiment.
It was about me saying the truth.
“I want you to kiss me, Marco.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was what he had been waiting for. There was a self-satisfied grin that I should have been outraged by, but again, I didn’t care. I just needed him to kiss me.
Now.
I half expected him to devour me, like a starving man. That was how I wanted to kiss him.
Instead he moved in so slowly, drawing the moment out for what felt like an eternity. My lips were tingling in response to his nearness, and electric heat pooled in my stomach.
My whole body was pulsing with jittery anticipation.
“Anna.” He breathed my name against my lips, and I sighed in response.