Page 19 of The Baby Dragon Bakery (The Baby Dragon #2)

T he words were out before Theo even realized. Lavinia’s eyes widened.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” he quickly added, absolutely lying, but he didn’t want to back down now—not when the possibility of kissing her was in front of him. A desperate thrill shot through him like a lightning bolt, burning and bright.

“Okay,” she said, tone cavalier. She didn’t look at him, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. She fiddled with her fingers, then took a deep breath. “But only because I need a second opinion.”

Theo’s heart pounded. “Okay.”

Finally, she looked at him. The breath lodged in his throat. Sitting in the grass, her face wasn’t so far away, and her features were awash with starlight. His chest tightened painfully. She moved closer, until she was right in front of him, close enough to touch.

She smelled like coffee and caramel, sweet and strong. He wanted to take a bite out of her, and any thought that this was a bad idea went out of his head because, having her so close, he wondered how could this be anything but the very best idea?

He brought a hand up and brushed her hair back, fingers grazing her neck.

She stared at him with big, open eyes, waiting.

Suddenly, he felt nervous—something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He’d had casual hookups here and there, and he’d always been confident in himself—but now? With Lavinia? His stomach was in knots.

“Is this okay?” he whispered, touching her face with his hand. She nodded slowly, eyelids fluttering. He stroked her cheekbone with the curve of his thumb, his pulse quickening. This might be his only chance to kiss her; he wanted it to be good.

So as much as he wanted to kiss her right then, he waited, moving his hand down from her cheek to run his thumb across her bottom lip, feeling the softness of it against the pad of his finger. He heard the sharp intake of her breath, and desire swept over him.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered, voice rough.

She did, and he took the moment to appreciate her face without her watching, to take in every detail. The fan of her dark eyelashes, the slope of her nose, her full cheeks. He cupped her face with both hands and brought her closer, then brushed his lips against her forehead.

She released a shuddering breath, her hands going to his waist. He kissed her left cheek, then her right, and her grip on him tightened. Heat scorched through him, white-hot. He could feel her pulse racing in her throat. It was agonizing being this close to her.

Finally, he brought his lips close to hers, though not quite kissing her yet. As torturous as it was to hold himself back, he was savoring this, unsure when he would get the chance again.

When he could bear it no longer, he kissed her. It was a soft brush of his lips against hers, slow and sweet, but then she made a little whimper, fingers digging into his waist, and his restraint snapped.

He kissed her properly, his blood roaring. His entire body lit aflame. A moment in and he was already desperate for her, to explore every inch, to touch her everywhere.

Surely he had enough experience now to let her know she wasn’t a bad kisser. Surely he should stop. The decent thing to do would be to stop.

But then she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him closer, and he couldn’t help it, he went with her, chasing her mouth with his. Then they were horizontal, his hands over her shoulders on the grass as he kissed her and kissed her, his every movement frantic and hungry.

His heart pounded fiercely as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she made a low sound in the back of her throat. He wanted to find out everything she liked, and only do that for the rest of his life. He could picture it so clearly, doing this again and again. Doing everything with her.

He needed to stop. Right now, or he never would.

Theo pulled away, his breathing ragged. He sat down, catching his breath, trying to remember his own name. He had no idea of anything, let alone what they had been talking about before this, until slowly, it came back to him.

She had been worried she was a bad kisser. This had only been an experiment.

Theo cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. “So. I don’t think your kissing is a problem,” he managed to say.

Lavinia didn’t respond. For once, she was quiet.

Theo had half a mind to say she needed practice just so she would practice with him, but then he glanced at her, the swollen pink of her lips, and he couldn’t pull off such a deceit. He couldn’t bear it if she thought she was a bad kisser, because she wasn’t, she really, really wasn’t.

And he was falling in love with her.

Fear beat through him at the realization.

Without another word, he bolted.