Page 71 of The Matchmaker Club

“Well, say Tuffy spins the bottle, and it lands on me. Tuffy can choose to swap out me for Muffy.”

“Game on.” I spun the bottle, and the damned thing pointed right at Lucas.

Crap.

He grinned and sat up straighter.

I leaned forward, my hands on the floor. The moment I entered that invisible layer of personal space, his smile faded and his lips slightly parted. He did have a gorgeous mouth.

“Close your eyes,” I whispered.

He did.

I grabbed Tuffy with his tongue half hanging out and gently placed his mouth on Lucas’s. I held back a giggle and sat back down. Lucas’s eyes were still closed as he tilted his head. “Wow, Taylor. You really need a shave.”

He opened his eyes, and I threw Tuffy at him. “Funny.”

Lucas spun the bottle, and that damned thing pointed at me. Just as he leaned forward to steal a kiss, I held up my hand. “Doesn’t count. It was Muffy’s turn.”

He smiled softly. “Muffy said she wants to swap with you.”

I swallowed. “That wasn’t part of the rule.”

But I felt myself leaning into him until our lips were inches apart.

“I just made it up,” he whispered as his soft lips brushed with mine.

Just one small kiss and it was like our worlds collided and shattered into a million tiny pieces, only to come together to form something entirely different and new and wonderful. Like everything I had been through was to prepare for this moment, and I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

And it scared the hell out of me.

I backed away, avoiding Lucas’s intense stare. I grabbed my stuffed dog. “Muffy said she never agreed to that swap, and you cheated.”

He half smiled. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but before he could get the words out, there was a knock on my door. We both widened our eyes at each other and quickly cleaned up any evidence of Spin the Bottle.

Another knock sounded just as we sat up against the bed, posing innocently. I grabbed my mother’s shoebox of tapes. “Come in.”

My grandmother opened the door. “We’re just about to…”

We looked up at her with ridiculous grins spread over our faces.

“About to what?” I asked.

She pursed her lips. “Why do I get the feeling you two are up to no good?”

Lucas stared up at her like he was a kid about to get grounded.

“We’re just going through Mom’s old tapes,” I said.

“Mmm-hmm. Lainey and I were about to sit down to a Bette Davis movie marathon. You’re welcome to join us.”

My grandmother was a huge Bette Davis fan, and although I loved those marathons, Lucas and I had other business to attend to.

“That sounds nice,” Lucas said.

I glared at him. He was not going to back out of his deal now. “Butwe have other plans.”

“Suit yourself.” She gave me a look of approval before she shut the door.