Page 62 of Married in Michigan

“Mostly?”

I shrug. “I was a little buzzed at dinner.”

“How buzzed?”

I frown. “I don’t know. A little wobbly. I felt good. It’s wearing off pretty fast.” I notice the hitch in his eyes, a stutter in the heat. “Why?”

He gathers the curl around his finger until it tugs against my scalp, a knuckle brushing my temple. His eyes flick to my lips. Hips nudge mine, chest crushing against mine, and I wonder if he can feel my pulse. “I really want to kiss you.”

I stop breathing. The way he’s looking at my lips, it would be a hell of a lot more than just a kiss. “Paxton…”

He’s closer.

Closer.

His big deep golden eyes are piercing, fiery, raging with need, boiling with conflict. “Makayla…tell me again. How sober are you?”

“I’m not drunk,” I whisper, and it’s the truth. How rational I am right now is up for debate, but I can’t honestly blame the alcohol.

“I really want to believe you,” he whispers.

“Why?”

“Because if you were drunk, I couldn’t do this…”

And his lips meet mine. Soft. Warm. Damp, strong. Seeking. Questing, tasting, testing.

I don’t breathe, don’t move. I can only process, only register the fact that Paxton deBraun is kissing me. That it feels really, reallygood.

That I like it.

That I want more.

A furious, boiling intensity of heat and need explode through me at the moment his lips touch mine. And it’s just that—

Just a kiss, at first. His lips touching mine, but no more.

And then he pauses for breath, and the sudden rush of cool air between our hot mouths is shocking. And that rush of oxygen is a blast of sanity, in which I pull back and stare up into his eyes, and see the same drowned awe.

A tiny, innocent, ten-second kiss.

But I’m…

I’m not okay.

And neither is he.

I step away, and he lets me.

If I wasn’t sober before, I am now.

Except now, I’m drunk on the kiss, and high on the need to know what more would feel like.

Instead, I push past him and nearly run to my room. Close the door. Lock it.

Lean back against it, heart hammering.

I touch my lips with two fingers, which tremble.