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“Uh, no, well, actually, a little. Then again, they always say it’s the quiet ones you gotta watch out for, right?”

“Maybe us quiet girls wanna be grabbed by the hair and backed up against a wall, ya know?”

I stare at her like she just fell from heaven. “Grabbed by the hair?”

“I mean, not hard, so it hurts. But firm, like that neck grab you did just now?—”

I drown her words with a kiss, and this time I give it my all; my lips press more firmly, my breath ragged. And when her mouth parts, my tongue finds hers and we swirl in tandem on a collision course that I’m no longer in control of. The second I taste her, I know I’m hooked. I don’t care that the ice pack falls to the floor. The moan that escapes her lips matches the desire that’s coursing through my veins. My blood pumping, my heart hammering, my body heat burning that little bit hotter.

She may be vanilla on the outside, but I know there’s a little hot sauce buried under her sweet little librarian act.

The kiss goes on and on. Tasting. Teasing. I’ve kissed a lot of girls before, but this feels different. This feels like heaven on a stick. Her lips, soft and plush, explore just as greedily as mine. Except, it’s so much sweeter when the girl of your dreams just declared she’s a bit of a bad girl in disguise.

I pull back and press my forehead to hers. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

She’s just as breathless as me. “Really?”

“Since last year,” I admit. “I thought you were cute at speed dating. I only went there to get the numbers up and coerce Charli and Jake to finally give it up and admit their feelings for one another. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and how you took charge with that foghorn.”

She burst into laughter, and so do I. I wipe away a tear because the memory was hilarious. How she took her job so seriously, and everyone jumping ten feet in the air everytime that blasted horn sounded.

“One thing I’ve learned about having a lot of horny people in a room together, you need to keep them under control with a loud buzzer,” she says.

“Touché.”

“And I liked having you there that night. It was fun. Even if I took things a little too seriously keeping everyone in line.”

“Maybe a little.” I snicker.

“At the time, I was too caught up in my on again, off again thing with Drake.”

I shake my head. “It’s okay.” I pause. “But what did you mean before when you said you might love a man taking charge and looking out for you? Has no one done that before?”

She bites her lip and I watch the sweet little indent it makes. “Nope. I haven’t had a guy do that.”

I’ve no doubt that’s true if Drake is anything to go by.

“I’ll always look out for you,” I say. “But if you ever wanna take the lead again and kiss me first, fine by me.”

She laughs, albeit a little shyly. “You know. I thought you’d be totally put off when you saw me outside the other morning,” she admits after a few beads of silence.

I frown. “What? Why?”

“I was in my bathrobe!” Her hands hold her face for a moment as she shakes her head. When she pulls them away, her cheeks are deliciously flushed. “I had pumpkins on my robe.”

I chuckle. “You know, I have a pair of pumpkin slippers similar to yours. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“And my matching onesie pj’s? Not a good look when you’re trying to impress your cute neighbor.”

I wet my bottom lip.Trying to impress your cute neighbor?My hands snake down her arms and rest on her hips again. I love how it feels with my hands on her. “You think I’m cute?” I tilt my head, aware of my boyish grin, the one I can’t wipe off my face.

“The whole of Silver Pines knows you’re cute.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Now I know that’s not true, but I like that you think so. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. For the record, I thought it was adorable, just like the rest of you.”

“Well, you’re very sweet. I should tell you that I usually wear silky negligees.” She flutters her eyelashes. “But I think we both know I’m never gonna pull that off.”

I kiss her forehead. “What really turns me on in a woman, is her being comfortable in her own skin, pumpkin onesies or silk negligees. It’s all the same.”