After I repeated my words, Reid stepped back as if I’d asked him to kick a kitten. “Absolutely not.”
What could I say? I hadn’t been able to help myself. I wanted to push boundaries with him. Besides, if I learned he was a prude or terrible at kissing, I would no longer be attracted to him. “Come on. It doesn’t have to be a groping session. Just a little wicked promise for all to see.”
He took my arms and returned to dance mode, shaking his head. “I’m not grabbing your ass on the dance floor at a wedding reception in front of family and friends.”
“Come on, it’s not like I’m asking you to hump my leg. We’re talking a sexy skim.” God, it was fun pushing him out of his comfort zone.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not much for PDA.”
“So you weren’t affectionate with the ex?”
He led me in a slow circle as if to the beat of his own music. “No. She didn’t care for it. Always thought PDA was tacky.”
“Mm.” I was beginning to get a clearer picture of Vanessa. And it wasn’t a favorable one. I mean for God’s sake, the man had to hide video games from her? Did she have a list of rules for him to follow in bed too?
He leaned back to study my face. “No. Get the gleam out of your eye.”
I feigned innocence. “I don’t have a gleam.”
He chuckled. “Fine, we’ll label it a twinkle, then. But get the idea out of your head.”
“Hear me out. I just think if she’s not used to seeing you act physically affectionate, it would send a message to see you grab my ass.”
“What is with you wanting me to grab your ass?”
“Hey, you say that as if you don’t appreciate this ass. I work hard for it. I believe any fake boyfriend of mine would be anxious to, you know, touch it.”
He was already shaking his head, a wide smile on his face. “I’ll take it under advisement, but we should probably walk before we run.”
“Meaning you’re ready to kiss me now?” With any luck, it would be terrible and burst my crush bubble once and for all.
He stopped dancing, his face taking on a serious expression. “Yeah, I suppose we should get to it.”
Oh, boy. Suddenly all humor between us faded. While my mouth went dry, my palms started to sweat. This was it. This was the instant I would no longer adore Reid Maxwell.
But when his hands framed my face, and he leaned forward, I freaked the fuck out. There was no other way to describe it.
In a combination of blowing out my breath in his face and stepping back so awkwardly I tripped over my own feet, I committed the ultimate embarrassment of landing on my ass.
“Jesus, what the hell happened?” He reached down to help me up.
“I don’t entirely know.” I totally knew.
“Are you okay?” Concern was etched on his face.
“Fine. Um, I just remembered I have to be somewhere.”
“What? Where? I thought we were doing dinner?”
I was already across the room, gathering my purse and halfway to the door. “I realized I’m late for a thing. But we can do this again sometime. Bye.”
Adrenaline fueled my escape from his apartment, taking me to the elevator where I pressed the down button no less than ten times.
I was panicking because kissing Reid was a point of no return.
Maybe I wasn’t prepared to be gravely disappointed in the kiss? Maybe I wasn’t ready to be over my crush yet. Yep, that’s why I’d run. Because I wasn’t prepared to be disappointed. Wasn’t ready to let go of my infatuation yet. Perhaps after the wedding?
But if I’d only been trying to avoid the potential of disappointment, then why was I shaking? Why was I running away?
Because the truth wasn’t that I was avoiding a disappointment in our kiss. The real fear was if he’d been good at it.
