I want You Deeper

She tasted sweet.

How that was possible, he had no idea, since they’d both just eaten pizza. But as he deepened the kiss in response to her sigh, he realized this was how he expected her to taste. Like droplets of honeysuckle.

The strange thing was, he felt like he’d waited his entire life for this kiss. Like everything had been leading up to this one, perfect moment. He could have stayed here all night, just kissing her and holding her hand, but as he pulled back to look down at her, the timer on his phone went off, causing both of them to jump.

“The brownies are ready.” His voice sounded raspy. It didn’t sound like him at all. Mentally, he was cursing his decision to make dessert. It was as though a big glass of ice water had been thrown on both of them. He wasn’t sure where to go from here.

“I’ll go get them.” She hopped up, knocking her blanket to the ground, and rushed to the kitchen.

He started to call out that there was no rush-he’d chosen the lower length of cooking time recommended on the box-but he had a feeling she wasn’t running to save dessert. She was running from him.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

While she worked in the kitchen, he thought it through for a moment. He was her best friend’s older brother. Maybe that was a problem for her for some reason. Maybe she was conflicted about how Emily would feel about the two of them.

He could handle that. He could assure her that his sister was not only fine with it, but she was also encouraging it these days. But what if that wasn’t the reason for her hesitation? He’d just have to wait and see how she acted next.

“I put them back in for a few more minutes,” Alyssa said as she returned to the living room. “They seemed a little gooey.”

“Gooey brownies are the best.”

Were they discussing brownies? All he could think about was kissing her again.

Alyssa plopped down next to him, leaving a noticeable gap. “You never liked to cook. I remember that about you.”

“I’ve been practicing,” he said. “I just haven’t had much time since I got home. Plus, my kitchen was being redone.”

“Likely story.” She smiled at him, that teasing smile that made him feel all warm and…gooey.

He struggled to pick up his train of thought. “Seriously. My real estate agent found this great condo for me, but the kitchen was dated. They’d updated everything else. I’ve gotten used to having an island in my kitchen.”

“Like the one you had growing up.”

Her comment threw him off. Yes. Like the one he’d had growing up. He hadn’t even thought of that until now, but when he’d lived alone all those months, there had been something comforting about chopping vegetables and mixing ingredients on that big wooden countertop in the center of his kitchen. Standing crowded in the corner, trying to deal with limited counter space, felt very unnatural to him.

“I’ll have you over for dinner now that my kitchen’s ready,” Jeremy said.

Okay, so maybe he was testing the waters here. Seeing how she’d respond to the mention of a future date. There was little doubt it would be a date, he figured, after the kiss they’d just shared. He could have her over, try to impress her with his signature dish-chicken parmesan-and maybe share a few romantic moments with her like the one they’d had a few minutes ago.

Before she could respond, a timer beeped. It came from behind him in the kitchen. He assumed she’d set the oven timer when she’d put the brownies back in.

“I’ll get that. Want some ice cream?”

And she was up again, racing for the kitchen. He called out a, “No,” and stared at the screen in front of him. He wasn’t sure how he could get things back on a romantic plane with her, so he decided not to even try. Instead, he’d simply enjoy eating a brownie on the sofa with a woman he felt like he was just now getting to know.

“I brought you the corner piece,” she said.

He smiled and reached out for the plate she was extending. “Because I won.”

“Nope.”

When she sat down on the sofa-he couldn’t help but notice she’d returned to the same sofa as him rather than her separate one-he saw what she’d done. She’d cut herself a corner piece, too.

“Hey, that’s not fair. The winner was supposed to get the corner piece.”

She paused, holding the plate up in front of her. “Do you even know how brownies work? There are four corners.”

“And I should get all four.”

“Greedy.” She shook her head, lifting her brownie to her mouth. He did the same. They didn’t speak for a long moment, just chewing silently.

“You have a lot of money, don’t you?”

He nearly choked on the bite of brownie he’d just swallowed. Great.

Now he needed something to drink.

“Hold that thought.”

He didn’t want her to hold it, but he didn’t want to be rude, either. He rushed to the kitchen and poured them each a glass of milk. He knew when they were kids, she’d liked hers with a little chocolate syrup in it, and he considered doctoring that up for her. There was no chocolate syrup in the refrigerator or pantry, though.

If she minded plain milk, she didn’t say it. She just thanked him and set the glass down next to her on the end table.

Alyssa didn’t hesitate to pick up the previous conversation. “Your sister said you live in a penthouse suite at that high-rise near your office.”

“My agent found that for me. I would have been fine with a regular condo, but it’s not so easy to find a place on short notice in this town.”

“Tell me about it.” She laughed. “Even when I do get my business going, I’m going to probably have to get on a waiting list. I don’t want to be on your sister’s sofa forever.”