His eyes narrowed for a half second, his expression going wary, even as his gaze flicked over hers, both hungrily and reluctantly. As though he didn’t want to notice her but couldn’t help himself.
She felt a thrill of hope. It’s not just me.
Then he relaxed his arms and nodded his head back toward the front door. “I should go.”
Lucy swallowed her disappointment. What had she been expecting, that he’d walk in here and tell her that things had changed for him too?
That he was as aware of her as she was of him?
She hadn’t been expecting it. But she had let herself hope, and that was just as dangerous.
“Okay. See you around,” she said, forcing a smile.
Reece nodded and headed toward the front door, giving her a chance to admire the way the shirt hugged his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and the way the jeans perfectly fit his perfect—
He turned around before she could fully appreciate his butt. “There’s something I’ve been wondering.”
“Shoot,” she said, legs continuing to swing idly, as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Did it ever get better for you?”
“Did what?” Lucy asked, not following.
“Kissing.”
Her legs abruptly stopped swinging. “What?”
Reece walked toward her until he was just a few inches from where she sat. Her position on the counter put them at eye level, and the sheer control in the way he moved made her suddenly realize that she’d seriously be in over her head with this guy if he ever decided to make a move.
“I promised you it got better after the first kiss,” he said, moving even closer, even as his gaze stayed safely locked on her collarbone. “Want to make sure I didn’t let you down.”
“You didn’t let me down,” she said without thinking.
His eyes flew to hers. “Meaning?”
Lucy decided to go for broke. As he pointed out, she was leaving in three months. Nothing to lose. Other than her heart. “Meaning that my first kiss remains my best kiss,” she whispered.
“Well that’s a shame,” he said quietly, easing forward as she spread her knees slightly to make room for him to step between them. “Because I seem to remember that wasn’t my best work.”
“You angling for a do-over, Sullivan?” she teased, trying desperately to keep the girlish breathlessness out of her voice. To sound grown-up.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Lucy swallowed. She may not have mastered the art of sounding like a grown-up just yet, but the woman in her knew that he wanted to kiss her.
She held her breath. Maybe leaned forward…
He stepped back, swearing softly as he rubbed his hands over his hair.
“What am I doing?” she heard him mutter.
Reece turned and stomped toward the front door, and Lucy all but flew off the counter, racing past him and getting between him and the front door.
He got an annoyed look on his face and glared at her. “What?”
“You know what,” she snapped back. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
“I never should have started it,” he said, trying to step around her.
She stepped with him, blocking him. “What are you scared of?”