When Joseph and Noemi’s frantic kiss finally concluded, she stared at her hand on his chest, looking at her new ring much like she was in shock.
“It’s beautiful,” she commented softly.
He kissed her forehead and turned to Silas. “Did you get some good ones?”
The camera lowered to his side. “Yeah, definitely.”
“Great.”
Noemi’s fingers tangled behind Joseph’s head. “This was why you were acting so weird on the drive over.”
Joseph’s hands settled on her waist. “I thought you’d find the box in my pocket when you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.”
She gave a sheepish grin. “I’m not responsible for what happens when you wear this suit.”
“Control yourself a little longer. We’re meeting your father and Claudia for dinner.”
“We are?” She straightened and her expression fell.
“I promised him. He said he wants to celebrate, but I’m fully expecting to be presented with a lengthy pre-nup. There might even be a team of lawyers waiting for us.”
She sighed, but her focus went back to the ring. “These pictures were supposed to be your birthday present.”
“They are. Now I have the moment you said yes forever.”
Joseph and Noemi didn’t stay long after that. Silas took a few portrait shots, and then they were off, leaving Silas and me alone in the studio. The dirtiest side of me was disappointed I hadn’t gotten to see Joseph and Noemi play. I was wound tight as a spring, ready to snap. There was a throbbing ache between Silas and me. Could he feel it as strongly as I did?
“I’m happy for them,” I whispered, unsure what to say.
“Yeah.” Silas set his camera down on the desk and hooked his fingers in his belt loops, like he wanted to occupy his hands. “Me too.”
His gaze locked on, sucking me in like a tractor beam. I should run before things got worse, but who was I kidding? It was already too late. I took a step toward him. Then another. All he did was stand there and wait. Flexing his power over me without doing a goddamn thing.
His broad shoulders lifted in a deep breath as I moved closer. And closer. I took his reaction to my proximity as a tiny victory. At least I wasn’t the only one whose heart was threatening to beat out of their chest.
My feet shuffled the final two steps until there was no space left between us.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hey,” I whispered back.
I shut down my hesitant or nervous thoughts, and did only what I wanted. My hand slipped up his chest and curled around the back of his thick neck, and I lifted up to slant my lips on his.
The kiss rivaled Joseph and Noemi’s somehow. I felt it all the way down to my toes when his soft, wet tongue tentatively slid over mine, asking for more. I loved the way he held me as he kissed. Trapping me as if he worried I’d bolt any moment, although that wasn’t an issue.
I was greedy. My fingers burrowed beneath his t-shirt and walked over the smooth and hardened plain of his chest. The kiss deepened layer after layer, but in the pit of my stomach guilt balled into a stone and weighed me down. At every turn with Silas I’d drawn a line in the sand and then immediately stepped right over it.
I could not fall in love with him. Not while I was lying.
So I set my hands on his chest and eased him back, pasting a smile that covered the turmoil I felt beneath.
“We should work out together,” I said, stepping out of his embrace. I needed distance ASAP. “I could spot you,” I joked.
I’d swear I could hear the train wheels coming to a screeching halt on Silas’s seduction. “Get back over here, I wasn’t finished.”
I was unstable around the romance, but when he shifted into lust, I was back in my element. “I don’t like being bossed around.”
“I remember.” He grinned. “Don’t care.”