“And what kind of advice did you get?”
“She told me… to stop worrying so much about the past or future. To focus on the present.”
“That’s pretty good advice. Though tough to follow.”
“That’s what I thought. I—” She flinches and gasps, dropping her scissors and the paper.
“What’s wrong?” I drop my own supplies and reach her without waiting for an answer. I see the faint red line of a paper cut on her finger and wince. “Ouch. Those things hurt.”
“So bad.”
“Hold on.” I leave her sitting on the floor and grab a tissue from Dad’s desk. When I return, I lower myself next to her on the ground, even closer than before. I carefully grasp her hand in mine again and wrap her finger.
Neither of us says anything for long moments. At her nearness, I can feel my heart thundering in my chest, matching her own pulse, which is beating quickly against my thumb.
“I think the bleeding has stopped,” she says at last.
I pull the tissue back and see she’s right. On impulse, and remembering her words about living in the future, I lower my head to press a kiss to her finger.
She sucks in a breath and watches me closely. She doesn’t pull back and raising my gaze I see it. The flicker of fire in her eyes.
It’s all the invitation I need. I pull her into my arms and capture her lips in a searing kiss. The last thought I have before I sink into it is that I was right.
She tastes like rum and sugar cookies.
SEVEN
HOLLY
Wrapped in Jonas’s strong embrace, I let the kiss consume me, allowing myself to sink into it completely.
I don’t worry about the past.
I don’t think about what this could mean for the future.
For the first time, I think I understand what my bell-ringing friend meant when she said I should focus more on the present. Right now, I’m a big fan of living in the present.
I slide my hands up his chest, stroking the muscles under his flannel shirt. I reach for the buttons, eager to touch his bare skin. Jonas releases his hold on me to grab my hands. He breaks off the kiss and looks down at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely.”
“Because this could make certain things complicated.” He stares intently at me, passion thick in his dark eyes. “And I don’t want—”
“Would you mind if we don’t worry about what might happen tomorrow or what happened yesterday? Could we just focus on what’s happening right now?”
His lips, swollen from mine, curve up. “I can do that.”
“Good. Then kiss me.”
“Yes, boss.” A little thrill runs up my spine at his words, and it’s heightened by his mouth on mine again.
This kiss is every bit as searing as the first, only there’s more to it. It’s every bit as urgent, but it’s more insistent. It’s as if he’s silently urging me to feel every bit of joy and desire I can at this moment.
And it’s not hard to do.
I return to removing his shirt, splaying my hands over his bare skin once it’s revealed.