Page 19 of Be Mine, Sweetheart (Something Borrowed 3)

She giggled out loud.

“What are you laughing about?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Uh huh. I don’t believe you.”

She turned to face him, and found him watching her with an evil grin. She froze with her coffee cup halfway to her lips. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he said, innocently.

Kelly placed her mug out of the way. “Whatever you are thinking about doing to get me to talk, do not do it.”

Chris put the pancake he’d been flipping on top of a large stack and set the spatula down. “See, but now you’re challenging my manhood and I have to do it.”

Chris held his arms out, the flour-covered tips wiggling at her, and he contorted his face into a slack-jawed, zombie impersonation.

“No! I hate that, and you know it,” she squealed.

“Gah grr argh.” He started lumbering towards her, making horrific sounds that would have won him a role on The Walking Dead.

And even though she knew it was a game, she ran. Did she love zombie movies? Yes. Did they scare the pants off her? Definitely. She didn’t even like seeing people dressed as zombies on Halloween; she was too afraid any minute they would form a group and start chasing her.

Behind her, Chris closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She shrieked as he buried his face in her neck and pretended he was eating her.

“Stop! Stop! I wasn’t laughing at you, I swear.”

Her scream was tinged with laughter, until Chris stopped growling against the side of her throat. Had his teeth just scraped gently below her ear?

Then, she was very much aware of his warm breath

on her skin. The hard bands of his arms around her. The press of his chest and…

Oh, shit, Chris was turned on. The proof was pressing into her butt.

But it was her reaction to his arousal that was really a punch in the gut. She had this crazy urge to wiggle her ass, and tilt her head, giving him better access to kiss his way up the side of her neck. Maybe reach back to cradle his head as she turned her lips to his.

Chris pulled away from her, ending the fantasy and bringing her back to stone-cold reality. A reality where she had just imagined making out with Chris.

Something. Was. Very. Wrong. With. Her.

She cleared her throat, and turned to face him. Not meeting his gaze, she murmured, “I guess I’ll head up and take a shower.”

A few beats went by before he responded. “All right. I’ll probably be gone when you get out. Got a lot of stuff to do today.”

Why was this so awkward?

“Then I guess we’ll talk later.”

“Yeah. Enjoy your shower.”

Kelly’s gaze snapped up at the husky tone in his voice, but he’d already turned his back on her. He disappeared into the kitchen without a backward glance.

Kelly climbed the stairs, confusion bubbling in her stomach. Once she reached her bedroom, she shut the door and leaned back against it with a deep, shuddering breath.

She needed to start dating. If she didn’t start getting some on a regular basis, she might do something stupid.

Like ruin an eighteen-year-long friendship.