Page 13 of Scarlett and the Fake Boyfriend (Scarlett #2)
He kissed me like I was the only thing he ever thought about. The only thing he ever needed. Like I was his whole world.
I grabbed the front of his hoodie and pulled him closer. It was just like he said. I fell asleep every night thinking about kissing him. I dreamed of unmasking him. I dreamed of him stealing all my firsts.
He groaned again as his hand fell to my thigh. But he didn’t move it higher. He just kept kissing me. Like this was all he needed.
But for me, it somehow didn’t feel like nearly enough. I wanted him closer. I wanted to kiss him harder. I just wanted more of everything. I reached for the zipper on the front of his hoodie.
He didn’t pull my hand away.
“Scarlett?” Liam said in my earpiece. “Scarlett, where are you?”
RJ screamed in his high-pitched William voice. “Baby doll! Have you been taken?”
And just like that, the kiss thief spell was broken. Instead of zipping off his hoodie, I shoved him off of me. But I immediately wished I hadn’t. I wanted him to kiss me like that forever. I never wanted to stop feeling the way he made me feel. Sexy. Desired. Not a cat lady.
I forced myself to not step forward and close the distance between us again. “Who are you?” I asked. I tried to blink fast so my eyes would adjust to the darkness faster.
“The kiss thief must have struck!” Sophie yelled. “The kiss thief must have struck!”
I heard my kiss thief move to the door.
“Please,” I said. “Let me see you.” I knew how desperate I sounded. But I was desperate.
My kiss thief must have slipped out in the darkness, because the only response I got was the door clicking closed.
And then my stomach rolled. Because what if I’d just made out with Mr. Halifax?!
“Did anyone see who it was?!” I yelled.
“It’s too dark!” Sophie yelled and I heard another loud crash.
I fumbled around in the dark room to find the handle, just as the lights turned back on, lighting up tons of monitors all around me.
“I’m in the security room!” I said. No wonder I’d felt like the kiss thief was watching me. “I’ll catch him on the feed...” my voice trailed off when the screens powered back on. “Crap. It says the computer’s memory has successfully been wiped!”
“That tricky bastard!” RJ yelled.
I opened up the door and ran out. “Jacob,” I said. “Do you have eyes on him?”
Jacob didn’t respond .
“Stop being a mime for one second!” Liam yelled. “Do you have eyes on the perv that keeps making out with my sister? We need to beat the shit out of him!”
“No one is beating the shit out of anyone,” I said.
And Jacob still didn’t respond.
I refused to miss this opportunity to catch my kiss thief. He couldn’t have gotten far. I ran out into the entranceway. I looked out the windows as I ran toward the door. The crowd around Jacob had dispersed but there were still a few people out on the sidewalk. I ran outside.
“Jacob, did you see him?”
Sophie burst out the door behind me, breathing heavily.
“Did you see him?!” shrieked RJ as he caught up to us. And then he cleared his throat. “Sorry, the William thing stuck for a second there.”
Liam dropped his cane. “Seriously, Jacob, did you see where he went?” It looked like he was ready to sprint after the kiss thief. Which would have been alarming to see. Since his face was still all wrinkly.
“I didn’t see anyone suspicious at all,” Jacob said. He ran his fingers through his hair and turned in a circle. “No one has even come out in the past couple minutes. Maybe the kiss thief exited through the back entrance?”
“What back entrance?” RJ asked.
“The one behind the building?”
“Damn it, Jacob! Why didn’t you tell us about the other exit sooner?”
“Every building has at least two exits. I figured you knew. I just thought you wanted to dress that way or something.”
“Ugh,” RJ said. “I was trying to be funny and it blew up in my face. I knew I should have gone to Mr. Tanner to get the blueprints.”
I sighed. “I can’t believe we missed him.” My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out. “He just texted.”
“What does it say?” Sophie asked.
I read the text out loud. “And now I’ve stolen your first time cheating on your boyfriend. Don’t play games with me, baby. We both know you’re mine.”
My heart raced faster with each word. I guess he technically had stolen another first.
“He must think you’re a total slut,” Sophie said.
Jacob sighed. “Kissing him while being my girlfriend makes me look like such a fool.”
I stared at him and laughed. Because how could I not? He was dressed like a mime right now.
“I think the mime costume does that all by itself,” RJ said.
“You better get back inside before Mom notices that you’re missing,” Liam said.
Eek. “Good call.”
Sophie grabbed Liam’s discarded cane and stabbed herself in the stomach. Her costume made a loud farting noise as it deflated. “Finally,” she said. “That thing was like a thousand degrees.”
“Classic Gog,” RJ said.
Jacob laughed and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Mr. Nigel,” he said. “He’s in charge of security here. He might have a backup of the security tapes.” He put his phone to his ear.
“That mime talks a lot,” a little boy said to his mom as she passed by us .
I burst out laughing. All the stress of trying to catch the kiss thief had somehow toppled over into fits of giggles. “I can’t with your costume, Jacob.”
Everyone else started laughing too.
The mother walking by gave us a weird look and grabbed her son’s hand. They hurried off.
“We must look insane right now,” RJ said.
“Hey, Mr. Nigel,” Jacob said. “I need a favor.” He paused and looked at me. “Go back inside,” he whispered. “You still have a dress to pick out for homecoming.”
“Or maybe your mom needs some help picking out some more lingerie,” RJ said. “Think she’d recognize me if I assisted her in the changing room?”
“I’m going to kill you,” Liam said. He put his hand out and Sophie handed him his cane.
RJ just laughed.
“Go,” Jacob whispered go me.
I hardly felt like picking out a homecoming dress right now. But he was right. My mom would definitely notice me missing soon. I hurried back inside. I really hoped Jacob could get the backups of the security tapes.