Kiss and Confess (Love Unscripted Book 1) by Jane Lynne Daniels Page B

adjoining door. “Sssh. Keep your voice down.” She moved to the bed and sat by his side, so close that her bare leg nudged against his denim-clad one. She tried to ignore the quivering that went through her at the touch, but instead of being ignored, every part of her went on high alert.
    He put a finger to his lips. “I’ll try to keep my voice down,” he said.
    She nodded, wondering why he’d come here and what the hell he meant by “protecting her.”
    “I’ve missed you.”
    Dammit. Her eyes misted suddenly and without permission. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from telling him she’d missed him, too. She couldn’t do this again. Would not ride that roller coaster.
    Luke’s eyes drifted half-closed and he leaned down toward her, his lips barely parting.
    She hadn’t known how much she wanted him to kiss her until now.
    But she wasn’t going to do it. She wasn’t going to be that girl, the one who took advantage of his altered state to relive what they’d once had. She wouldn’t taint the memory of who they’d been together. No matter how much he tried to downplay that time. It was her memory and she was keeping it.
    Charley put both hands on his chest. “This can’t happen.”
    He stopped, pulled back. “Was okay ’til I saw you again.”
    “You’ll be okay again.”
    “You don’t know that.”
    She could see sleepiness begin to wrap itself around him, slur his words. “I’ll call you a cab.”
    “Only need to close my eyes.” He held up his index finger. “For one minute. That’s all.” He turned and began crawling across her bed on all fours.
    “Luke.” Her whisper was urgent. “You can’t go to sleep. You have to leave.”
    “One min. Ett,” he said again, right before he collapsed, face down on one of the pillows.
    Charley went to the side of the bed he’d ended up on and tried shaking his arm. Nothing. She lifted it, but it fell back to the bed with a soft thump. He was out. She laid her fingers on his cheek, hoping the touch would wake him.
    It didn’t.
    Okay. She’d be creepy for just a moment. He’d never know.
    Lightly she stroked the familiar cheekbones and whiskered jaw, brushing her fingertips against his lips. He’d been her whole world once. Funny, she could tell herself it was all over, done, in the past, but when she looked at him, her entire body tingled, as it used to, with a feeling that had nothing to do with words. She’d always felt it when she was with him. Felt it now.
    Addictive. And thrilling. She wanted to hold it in her hand again, however briefly.
    She brushed his hair back, remembering how she’d loved it when his curls folded around her fingers. They still did that. She bent down to press her cool cheek to his warm one.
    He could not be here, in her bed. If nothing was clear, that much was.
    Rationally, anyway.
    She didn’t want to be rational, so she stood again to untie the laces on his Nikes. Gently, she pulled them off his feet, one at a time, and set them on the floor.
    Then she moved back around to the other side of the bed and climbed in, beneath the covers. She laid her head on her pillow then, before she could think about it too much, pulled the shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor. She was back to the thin camisole. But that was how she slept, she argued with her conscience, Luke or no Luke.
    They weren’t touching, but she could feel the heat radiating from his body, could remember what it had been like to lay enfolded in his arms. As if he could read her mind, in the next moment, Luke rolled over and wrapped his arm across her shoulders.
    He pulled himself close, spooning her with his body. Charley closed her eyes, fighting her arousal at the same time she reveled in it. His own breathing was even, deep.
    They lay that way for more than an hour, Luke sleeping soundly, Charley unable to. She kept one eye on the clock, wishing she could freeze time. When morning came, everything would change. But for now, she could steal