Blame it on the Kiss

by Robin Bielman

  “Right,” she said.

  “Ecdysiast,” he tossed out.

  Crap. Was that even a real word? How was it spelled? She wouldn’t put it past him to mess with her. He didn’t like losing. But she didn’t want to ask for clarification and see a smug look cross his gorgeous face. She closed her eyes, breaking eye contact for the first time since she’d sat down and racked her brain for an answer.

  “Need a hint?” he goaded.

  When pigs flew. She repeated the word to herself. Think, Honor. Given the suffix, the word referred to some kind of person. That left only a few hundred choices. Maybe thousands.

  He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. She opened her eyes to find him waggling his eyebrows. Well? his expression said.

  “Snollygoster,” she mumbled.

  Bryce laughed. “Oh, I can be trusted on this. You think I’d try and cheat my way to winning? No way. Give up?”

  “I actually know this one,” Ryder said.

  Honor swung her head to look at him. She’d been staring at Bryce and paying zero attention to her tattoo artist for so long her neck kinked. “Ow.” She rubbed her nape. Her gaze dropped from Ryder’s face to her wrist. He’d just finished the tattoo.

  Faith

  “All done,” Ryder said. He wiped the tattoo with some kind of soap, and then applied a thin coat of anti-bacterial ointment.

  “I’m done,” she quietly gushed.

  Bryce stood and cupped the back of her neck, pushing her fingers aside to massage the painful spot. “Congratulations. You did it.”

  She stared up at him and emotion clogged the back of her throat. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “The only thing I did was take your mind off it.”

  She reached up and took his hand, pressed her lips to his warm skin. “You win.”

  “I think we’ll call this one a draw,” he said, nodding toward her new tattoo.

  Ryder wrapped her wrist in a plastic wrap bandage and fixed it in place with medical tape. “You can remove this in four to six hours,” he said. “Now to ecdysiast.”

  “Okay, lay it on me,” Honor said.

  The two men exchanged a quick glance. “Stripper,” they said in unison. Ryder put up his fist for a tap before wheeling his stool away.

  She’d never heard a more enthusiastic declaration. Bryce bent his head down until his mouth brushed her ear. “How about you be my ecdysiast later tonight?”

  Her pulse went into overdrive. “You have a pole?” she whispered back, making sure to skim her lips along the smooth skin of his jaw.

  “You know how to use one?” He bit her ear lobe. The sting vibrated through her, settling at the tips of her breasts.

  “I’m very good at putting a rod between my legs.”

  He groaned and pulled back just enough for her to see an intense flare of heat in his eyes. “Think I’ll skip my tattoo and take you home with me right now.” He stepped away from her chair to talk to Ryder.

  “There’s no rush,” she called once his announcement sank in. The flirting she could handle. Being alone with him at his place after the orgasm he’d given her the other night was a whole other story.

  She couldn’t make up her mind what do with him.

  That wasn’t exactly true. It terrified her what she wanted to do—to be—with him. But he deserved better than a girl who had no implicit trust in relationships. Bryce was an all or nothing guy, and she only gave pieces of herself.

  “Speak for yourself,” he called back.

  “We’re already here. You should get inked while we’re here.” Brilliant response, Honor. Like he was clueless about his whereabouts.

  He ignored her, spoke with and paid Ryder, and had a hand on her lower back to escort her out of the shop thirty seconds later. His hands were weapons. Weapons of mass persuasion. With every touch her body craved to comply with anything and everything he suggested.

  The sun had long ago set and a sliver of moon hung in the dark sky. Bryce opened the car door for her before getting into his own seat.

  “I’m really proud of you,” he said.

  “I owe you money,” she answered because his praise did funny things to her stomach and… “Thank you,” she amended because she didn’t like that she’d sounded rude and ungrateful. “I am feeling pretty pleased with myself at the moment. I can’t believe I was so worried about this. It hurt, but not that much.” She twisted to face him. “Payton’s forever in my heart, and now she’s forever part of my outward expression too. I’m really happy you dragged me here.”

  “Dragged?”

  “Okay, brought. And bought. I do want to pay you back.”

  He put the key in the ignition. “I’ll send you my bill and acceptable payment methods.”

  A nervous laugh bubbled up inside her as she pictured some methods she’d like to offer. Get your mind out of the gutter.

  Reaching for her seatbelt, she focused on the happiness inside her. “I want to bask in this feeling for a while. If Payton were here, she’d be really happy. We had this ritual when one of us did something memorable. Good, bad, somewhere in the middle, it didn’t matter. If it made us stop and think we celebrated it.”

  Bryce pulled away from the curb. “She often wrote down inspirational or funny quotes and folded them up into small slips of paper I’d find in my pants pockets.”

  “Really?” Honor said with a smile.

  His gaze remained out the windshield. “Yeah. She also liked to read Los Angeles magazine, but only on Sunday mornings, and pick somewhere new for us to grab breakfast.”

  “She hated to cook.”

  He nodded. “Tell me about your ritual.”

  Honor brought a knee up and hugged her shin. “We’d make a blanket fort in front of the TV, eat graham crackers with peanut butter, drink sparkling apple cider out of champagne glasses, and find the cheesiest movies to watch until we fell asleep.” She let out a breath. “It was the best.”

  She laid her chin atop her knee and ran a finger over her bandaged wrist. “Now as my memories fade, I’ll always have this.” Thanks in no small part to him. “I know you had other ideas, but do you think you could take me home? I’d like to honor our tradition tonight.”

  “Sure,” he said, disappointment, but mostly relief in his tone. She took in his profile, his firm grip on the steering wheel. They’d both just dodged a bullet.

  …

  Honor put her paint roller back in the white plastic pan and studied the wall in her antique shop. She could scratch Painter off her list of skills and may actually need to hire someone to paint since her brother had bailed on her for a skateboarding tournament. A tournament he stood poised to win by the number of exclamation points in his text earlier. She hated herself for wishing he’d lose a competition so he’d rethink the agent thing. Put off going pro for a while longer. He’d liked the agent in LA. He liked Bryce. Whenever she thought about that, she disliked them both.

  She raised her hands and snapped her fingers. Nope. No magic happening with the wall. Dammit. Maybe no one would notice it once she had everything else in place.

  “Knock, knock,” Sophie called out.

  Honor turned and almost burst out laughing as her friend walked through the door.

  “What?” Sophie put a hand on her hip. “The overalls too much? You said you were painting so I thought I’d help.”

  “You do make one heck of a poster girl for painting.” Honor crossed the room and took the bag Sophie had in her other hand. “And you’re the greatest friend ever for bringing lunch. Thank you.”

  Honor waved for Sophie to follow and strode over to her desk. She moved aside some stuff and put the bag from the Beach Café down.

  Sophie practically skipped behind her. She’d been walking on Cloud Nine since returning from her honeymoon. “What color is that?”

  “Eggplant.” Honor pulled out a napkin and laid it on the desk before taking out the burgers and fries. Sophie grabbed her food and they found a rel
atively clean spot on the floor to sit down and eat.

  “I like it. Are you painting the other walls the same?”

  “No. Just that one.” She liked things slapdash. Made her feel at home. “How’s the new piano?” The surprise from Zane had floored Sophie.

  “Amazing. I’m in love after only one lesson.”

  “Hello?” a man said from the direction of the open front door.

  Honor looked up. “Danny?” He looked around like he’d heard her but couldn’t see her, and she realized there were several boxes in the way. She stretched up and leaned to the side. “We’re down here.”

  His eyes met hers. “Hey. Am I interrupting?” He stepped into the store, his attention wandering around the space.

  “No. We’re just eating lunch.”

  “Hi Danny!” Sophie said, lifting her arm higher than the box at her back and waving.

  He responded in kind, then said, “Nice place you’ve got here. I noticed the downstairs is vacant.” He stopped in the middle of the room and scuffed the floor with his work boot.

  Hold on. She’d never seen Danny in anything less than slacks and dress shirts. “Mr. Case hasn’t rented it yet. What are you doing here?”

  Hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he studied the floor for a moment. “Bryce asked me to stop by. He told me you were fixing the place up on your own and your floors could use some sanding. I had a free couple of days, so here I am.”

  Sophie kept eating her burger like this was the most natural thing in the world to have Danny show up and sand floors. Honor popped to her feet. “Bryce thought you could come over here because…?”

  “I’m pretty good at this sort of thing. I make a hobby of woodworking.”

  Honor sighed. She hadn’t heard from Bryce in two weeks except via text a couple of times. He’d thanked her again for helping him with the gift for his mom and mentioned he’d had to leave town to meet with clients.

  She glanced down at the floor. It did need help. But that wasn’t why her heart pounded. Bryce had been thinking about her. Lord knew she hadn’t stopped thinking about him. His last text, You should let me help you take care of that one night thing, was burned into the back of her brain. She’d yet to reply.

  “So, I’ll go get my stuff out of the car and be back in a few to get started. That cool?” Danny said when she’d stood there tight-lipped.

  “That’s fine!” Sophie responded.

  Danny gave a nod and a smile and left. Honor dropped down to the floor and gave her friend the stink eye. Although, truthfully there wasn’t a lot of irritation behind it.

  “What do you know that I don’t?” Honor asked, grabbing a few French fries.

  “Nothing. But Bryce obviously wants to do something nice for you. And Danny is really good with his hands.” Honor raised her eyebrows. “Stop it. I’ve seen some of the furniture he’s made and it’s beautiful.” She wrapped up the remains of her burger. “According to Zane, he hasn’t been himself lately, so maybe this project is something he could use, too.”

  Honor pressed her hands into her lap. This went beyond one-night and Payton’s list territory.

  “I know there’s a lot going on in that head of yours.” Given that Sophie used to do brain research, sometimes Honor got the feeling her friend could actually see right through her forehead and into her thoughts. “But if it’s about Payton, she’s gone, Honor. Feeling some guilt for being here when your friend isn’t is normal, but a lot of time has passed now. I’ve seen you and Bryce together. There’s something there. I don’t think your best friend would begrudge you finding out what that is.”

  Gathering up their trash, Honor stood. “You’re right.”

  Sophie got to her feet, too, and wiped her hands down the legs of her overalls. “Why do I hear a ‘but’ coming?”

  “Buuut…” Honor smiled. “That something is very short-lived. Trust me.”

  Doubt clouded Sophie’s eyes before she nodded. “Since we need to get out of here for Danny, want to go shopping? I could use your help with some new clothes.”

  “You are the only girl I know who wants to shop after scarfing down a burger and fries. I’d love to.”

  “Meet me at Ivy Bleu?” The small boutique had become Sophie’s favorite, too.

  “I’ll be right behind you.” Honor looked around the large room at all the boxes and small furniture pieces. Should she haul everything downstairs? Push the boxes into the corners?

  Text Bryce and thank him? Tell him yes.

  Danny appeared in the doorway holding a big round tool thingie. “I’m using the space below to hold some of my larger items,” she said. “Should we put everything down there?”

  “I got it. You take off. Just leave me the keys. If you’re okay with it, I’ll hang on to them and be back tomorrow. I should be done by the end of the day.”

  “Sounds good. Thank you.” She looked around her desk for the keys and handed them to him. “A lot of the items in the boxes are fragile.”

  “No manhandling the boxes, got it.” His eyes sparkled and Honor got the feeling he was really excited about this.

  “Okay, then. I’ll stop by tomorrow.” She stepped around him. “You like fritters?”

  “Does a horse like hay?”

  Honor smiled. On her walk to Ivy Bleu’s she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She and Bryce were at an impasse and the ball was in her court. Sophie was right. Time marched on. People changed and made progress toward something better. Honor needed to stop standing in her own way. She’d said goodbye to eleven months since Payton’s death. And the more time she spent with Bryce, the more her heart opened to him.

  Both as a friend and maybe as something more, if only for one night. They both deserved to move forward and Payton would be okay with that. Her best friend had never begrudged someone else’s happiness.

  Okay, she texted.

  Her phone chirped two seconds later. Okay what? Just want to be clear since several days have passed since my offer.

  Okay to one night. And thanks for sending me Danny.

  Happy to help. With both. Danny’s not for the taking btw.

  A flash of heat whipped through her at his possessive and flirtatious answer. She waited a beat before texting back. That’s not what he said.

  WHAT DID HE SAY?

  She giggled at his use of all caps. Something about keeping my keys and—

  I’m going to kill him.

  Now? I’d like to make good use of those hands of his first.

  The only hands allowed to touch you are mine.

  A shot of pleasure hit between her thighs as she remembered his hands and where they’d been. Good grief. He was turning her on as she walked down Main Street.

  “Honor, dear, are you all right?” cute little dyed-blond Mrs. Landry asked, bringing Honor to a stop on the sidewalk. “You look a little flush.”

  Of course someone would choose this moment to pass by. “I’m fine. Just worked up a little sweat painting. Thank you, though.”

  “You should drink more water. Doctor Flynn says it’s the best thing for you. He also told me that being well hydrated helps keep the libido in good working order.” She double-winked, and Honor tried to keep a straight face.

  “I’ll be sure to remember that.” And try to forget where she heard it. The last thing she wanted to hear about was Mrs. L.’s libido when the woman liked to sneak around with Uncle Tuck.

  “When is your new store opening?”

  “Soon.”

  Mrs. L. patted her arm. “I hope so.”

  Honor’s phone chirped. “Gotta go, Mrs. L.” She hurried around the spry senior and focused back on her phone.

  Did I scare you away?

  No. Sorry. Ran into Mrs. Landry and got schooled on the importance of drinking water.

  So back to my hands on you, then.

  I’m not sure your hands need to be involved.

  Too late, sweetheart.

  What makes you think I want a repeat performan
ce? She did. She wanted his hands on her again and again and again.

  The sexy sounds you made when you came.

  Her pulse sped up.

  This time I’m going to make you come with my hand, my mouth, and while buried deep inside you.

  She darted down a small alleyway and leaned against the building, pressed her legs together. In that order?

  Now what fun would it be to give that away?

  How do you know I like surprises?

  Let me surprise you tomorrow night.

  Coop is out of town.

  I’ll be over at 8.

  Her stomach fluttered and her head got a little light. She’d led him to her front door, she couldn’t back out now. Okay.

  I can’t wait.

  The flutters moved upward and filled her heart. She left the texting at that, so delighted by his admission that her hands shook. She couldn’t wait either.

  …

  Bryce dropped his phone next to him on the couch and stared at the email on his laptop. Cooper Mitchell needed more time to make a decision and would be in touch soon. Honor Mitchell had made her decision and tomorrow night they’d be doing a lot more than touching.

  Whether or not it was the right thing to do, he’d find out later. The fact that she trusted him made him forget about his own trust issues. She couldn’t hurt him if he kept this about the list.

  And until he signed Cooper, he saw no reason not to be with her. She didn’t want a relationship, but she wanted a one night stand. No strings attached sex meant no emotional entanglement.

  Really Cooper should be thanking him. Bryce guaranteed Honor got exactly what she wanted and deserved. A good guy who respected her body and wishes. A guy who would worship her and make her feel safe while he rocked her world.

  You’re an idiot if you think your emotions aren’t involved.

  His mind wandered to Payton. He’d cared deeply for her, but over the past several weeks he’d come to realize he hadn’t truly loved her. Not the way he’d wanted to love someone. She’d never sparked the kind of intensity needed for forever. Coming to that understanding, he’d made his offer to Honor.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about her. She tied him in knots of lust and affection and he wanted to make tomorrow night good for her. A part of him planned to love her with slow, smooth strokes like he’d done on her couch a couple of weeks ago. But another part of him wanted to spread her legs wide and pound into her with unrestrained urgency so she’d know exactly how crazy she made him.