Page 65 of The Rebel

“Hot chocolate another one of your favorites?” I asked Daisy.

“Generally, yes. We’ll see about this one.”

I leaned in until my mouth was close to her ear, hovering with my chin over her shoulder. It would be so easy to lower my head and kiss her neck.

“If it’s not to your liking, I’ll hunt down every shop in town offering hot chocolate until I find the best one.”

She tilted her head up, looking straight at me. I wanted to kiss her mouth. Those lips were beckoning me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I can. And because I know it would make you react just like that. Your smile is unbelievably cute and beautiful. And huge.”

She put her hands on her cheeks. “I didn’t even realize I was smiling like this.”

“Apparently, hot chocolate really does it for you.”

“So do you.”

“Fuck,” I groaned. “Be very careful how you answer, Daisy.”

She quickly licked her lips before turning around to face the door. The person in front of us probably thought we’d lost our minds.

“No, no, the workday is absolutely not over.”

A gust of wind blew, pushing her hair to one side.

“Ouch,” she said, putting a hand to her ear. Her hair had tangled in an earring.

“Allow me,” I offered.

“I can do it,” she insisted, fumbling with it.

“You can’t see, Daisy.”

“You’re right.” She sighed. “I think I’m just making it worse.”

She had indeed, as she’d tugged in the wrong direction. I reached over and worked on disentangling her hair. I rubbed my thumb along the upper part of her ear, drawing it along the contour.

“Anthony,” she murmured.

She was shuddering just from this light touch. I immediately dropped my hand.

“I’m trying my very best to be on good behavior,” I assured her.

“Mm,” she whispered. “I almost can’t tell.”

“Oh, I think you can.”

Just as I finished, Bella came out and recited six different types of hot chocolate beverages in one breath.

“I’ll have the one with caramel,” Daisy said.

“It’s my favorite too.” Bella looked between the two of us.

Thank fuck I wasn’t caught; otherwise, Bella would suspect us. Then again…

She glanced from Daisy to me and back to Daisy. Was that a smug smile on her face? Damn. My niece was truly turning into a teenager.