Chapter 4

WILLOW

What the hell?!

The voice screams in my head as I scream into Knox’s now open mouth, just as his tongue tries to thrust into my mouth.

My hands slam against his chest and I push.

There’s a second where our lips are attached together. Like we’re glued together. Like this kiss is not going to end…

We finally pop apart.

I suck in a breath.

Knox touches my shoulders. “Listen to me.”

“You get away from me,” I say. “Why did you do that? Why…”

My chin quivers.

Why is he such a good kisser?

Oh. No.

“Can I explain?” Knox asks.

“I don’t know.”

“It just hit me.” Knox inches closer. “We need to get caught.”

“What?”

“That’s how you ruin the date. Without any obsession. Think about it. You bail on that guy, he’s going to cling. I can see it on his face. He’s crazy. So put the attention on me. I can handle him.”

“Wait a second,” I say. “What about your date?”

“Tasha? Well, she’s collateral damage. We were only going to fuck.”

“How sweet of you.”

“What? It’s the truth. I mean, I guess I can probably still hook up with her when I’m done with you…”

He rubs his chin, actually planning it out in his head.

“I’m not a sushi roll that gets shared,” I say.

“What’s your favorite sushi roll?”

“Spicy tuna,” I say. Then I shake my head. “Why does that matter?”

Knox laughs at me.

“I regret texting you so much now.”

“You put me in this spot,” he says. “You didn’t ask what my plans were. You just assumed. Then you said you were in danger. I had to act. And you might be right with that guy. He seems dangerous. Why are you even with him?”

“Same as you with your date.”

“Oh.”

“What? I’m not allowed to want attention? Why? Because I’m a woman?”

“No, not at all,” Knox says. “I respect that. I feel like I overstepped then. I mean, you can still hook up with him…”

“Yeah, right. Pass.”

“Okay, then you’re going to do this my way?”

“I’m not sure what that means.”

Knox moves closer to me and slides a hand around my body to my back.

He pulls me against him.

I arch my back a little, not sure of this…

“You have to relax,” he whispers. “It has to look real. It can’t be fake.”

“I’m still not following you…”

“We’re going to go back to the table but we need to have kissing lips…”

“What the hell are kissing lips?” I ask.

“You know what they are, Willow. When you’re kissing someone for a minute… right? A really hot kiss. And your lips get all wet and puffy…?”

I blush.

Heat surges throughout my body.

I try to fight it off but it’s no use.

I swallow hard.

“Then we excuse ourselves again,” Knox says. “We just keep doing it until your date loses his mind and finds us. When he finds us, we need to be… really into it…”

Knox touches just above my butt.

My hips thrust against him.

I gasp.

“See? You’re too nervous, Willow…”

His fingertips pull at my shirt until he’s touching skin.

He inches his mouth down closer to mine.

“Think about it,” he whispers. “Imagine if he finds us kissing… or me kissing your neck… my hand up your shirt… my other hand grabbing your ass…”

Knox’s left hand touches my butt.

His right hand moves up my shirt to my ribs.

His lips gently press against my neck.

What the hell am I doing here?

And why am I melting…?

I bite my bottom lip and I nod.

“Get the picture?” Knox asks.

Just like that, the moment is over.

Knox’s hands touch my hips and he pushes me back.

I stumble, blink fast, exhale a breath, and feel like I’m going to pass out.

“When he finds us like that, I’ll take over. Tell him that we’re fucking. That we keep bumping into each other and hooking up. Better for him to find out now than later, right? If he gets mad, I handle it. You have nothing to worry about. Oh, and if he tries to bug you after tonight, I’ll rearrange his face with my fists. Simple. Done.”

I want to speak.

I’m telling my brain to tell my mouth to speak…

Except I just nod.

“I know it’s not what you want,” Knox says. “I’m not sure I’ve got a better plan. Again, you put me on the spot here. Okay?”

“Okay,” I finally manage to say. “Um… the, uh, the kissing lips thing. It’s been more than a minute since we left the table…”

“Right,” Knox says.

I can’t believe what…

I move closer to Knox and I grab at the top of his shirt.

I jump to my toes and he grabs my sides and lifts me up.

There’s only one way to get those kissing lips that Knox talked about…

We need to kiss… like crazy.