Page 103 of A Change of Heart

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“At the risk of killing the romance … could I ask what you’ve recently eaten?”

He cracked up laughing. “Not peanuts.”

“Okay, good. Carry on then.” She pressed on his chest again. “No, wait.”

“What now?”

She flopped back and grimaced. “I don’t know. It just felt kind of weird that you were going to kiss me.”

“That’s not a compliment!”

“Sorry.” She pulled him beside her and snuggled into his arm. “I’m freaking out a bit.”

“How about we switch to the date option instead?”

She wrinkled her nose. “When?”

“Now.”

“I’m not keen to leave my flat in this weather.”

“Who said anything about leaving the flat?”

“We’re going to have a date here? Now?”

“Yeah. We can do whatever you want … cook dinner, watch a film, anything. There’s one rule though.”

“What is it?”

He sat up straight. “No kissing.”

“What?”

“You’re not allowed to kiss me.” He walked to the kitchen and she followed him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. It shouldn’t be difficult, since you find the idea of kissing me weird.”

“That’s a stupid rule.” She folded her arms across her chest as he opened the fridge and peered inside.

“I think it’s a good rule.”

“It’s terrible.”

Taking his arm, she pulled him around to face her. In the moment when their eyes locked, she realised the no kissing thing was a ruse to get her to kiss him. The stubborn part of her wanted to call him out on it. But that would mean ruining the moment, and she wasn’t quite stubborn enough to do that. Not when he was gazing at her as though he could see right into her soul.

Her legs trembled slightly when she lifted onto her toes. As her lips pressed softly against his, her breath caught in her throat. The sound of the rain on the window seemed to stop abruptly. Bringing her hands to the sides of his neck, she closed her eyes and angled her face to lean deeper into the kiss. Feeling light-headed, she was thankful when Kit’s arms tightened around her waist, pulling her firmly against him.

He took a couple of steps until her back collided with the kitchen counter. As her heart rate went through the roof, she pushed her fingers into his hair, needing something to grip onto as her lips moved in a perfect rhythm against his.

When they broke apart he remained pressed against her, their noses touching and their uneven breaths merging between them.

“You’re so easy to manipulate,” he said, eyes sparkling with amusement.

She laughed. “I knew you just made the no kissing rule to get me to kiss you.”