“He stopped, resting his forehead on mine. “Kalista…” He sighed, cupping one side of my face. We remained like that, close to each other, waiting for our bated breaths to steady for countless minutes. Our lips warm and puffy from our kiss.He looked at me. “Your lips taste better than I imagined, like cherry,” he said, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip.He’d imagined our kiss. “That’s because of my cherry chapstick,” I smiled.He pulled me closer, looking down at my lips. “I doubt it,” he whispered in a low voice.”

“So…if you happened to be in Belle’s position, could you love a…beast?” “No,” I said, immediately. He looked away, disappointed for some reason.“Good, that’s…very wise,” he said, fixing his eyes on the windshield. “I would love his heart,” I confessed.”

“Chloe scoffed. "Excuse me, but if this place reeks of body odor, it’s not because of me. I am not the one with the shirt soaked in sweat here." She glanced at me.My cheeks burned. It was one of those moments where you wished the earth could rip open and swallow you whole."Oh, that’s why I can see your bra," Vincent pointed out, looking at my chest. "Nice boobs by the way."I looked down and almost had a heart attack. In the haste, I’d put a white top over a black bra.”

“Look at me and tell me you don't want me to kiss you. Tell me you don't like it when I do this," he said, running his hand down my arm. "Tell me you don't like it when I touch your face." HE brushed his hands on both of my cheeks, moving up to my forehead and then back down. HE rubbed both thumbs over my lips. "Tell me you don't like it when I do this." He leaned hisjead closer, stopping just short of my lips. "Tell me to stop and I will. You're in charge, Missy.”

“Tuck," I breathe, and then he kisses me.I've been kissed before. But nothing like this. He kisses me with surprising tenderness, for all of his gusty talk. Still cupping my face, he gently brushes his lips against mine, slowly, like he's memorizing what I feel like. My eyes close. My head swims with his smell, grass and sunshine and musky cologne. He kisses me again, a litte more firmly, and then he pulls back to look down into my face.”

“His lips were like a caress as he brushed them across mine; slow and soft. He lingered, breathing in deeply as if he couldn't breathe without me. Eventually, he moved on to plant a tender kiss on my bottom lip, before pilling back and looking at me. His cocky grin was gone, replaced with something tender and nervous. His thumb ran over my lip once, before he let go, and smiled. -Loc 1471 ARC”

“Oh, you have to hear this,” Nick suddenly said with a grin. “Look for the house where the dog is barking.”I reached out and listened. “They’re going to kick out the dog from the house?” I arched my eyebrow.“Not ‘they’, her. The little fella peed on her new, expensive shoes, so she’s freaking out.” He laughed.“Talk about overreacting.”“It’s a woman. What would you expect?”