all.
âA kiss on the cheek,â she offered.
âGet real,â he told her. âWe both know that wasnât the bargain. Iâm talking an honest to goodness kiss.â
âYou didnât specify where. I should get to choose where Iâd want to put it, and Iâm saying there.â
âWell, since weâre picking body parts out of the air, Iâll say that I want the kiss on the head of my cock.â At her outraged gasp, he continued blandly. âSo I guess we can meet in the middle and settle on the mouth.â
âYouâre despicable.â
âYeah, yeah. Youâre the one who started the bidding low, sweetheart. I had to go high to counter it.â
âIâm not your sweetheart! Fine. On the mouth. But no tongue!â
âOh, thereâll be tongue,â he told her. âBut if itâll make you feel better, Iâll lead.â
âYouâll lead?â There it was again, that weird, half-startled, half-mortified look on her face that told him she was probably blushing again. âWhat do you mean by that?â
âI mean my tongue can do all the work. You can just let me be in charge of any tongue action.â
She shook her head again. âIâm pretty sure I didnât agree to tongue.â
âItâs not a kiss if thereâs no tongue.â
âGee, you sure didnât seem to be thinking that when you suggested I plant a kiss on your dick!â
He laughed, surprised and amused by her retort. He liked her, stiff shoulders and all. âNow now, how do you know I wasnât referring to tongue?â
She made a choked sound of fury.
âDonât distract me from our bargain,â he teased. âLetâs keep things on track here. How long?â
âHow long, what?â
âHow long should the kiss be?â
âI donât have a timer!â
âShould you get one?â He gestured at the cabin up the hill. âI can go back to the house and tell Cade that we need one to make sure we get the kiss rightââ
Her hands went to his chest, stopping him as he pretended to get up. âYouâre not going anywhere.â
A smile tugged at his mouth. âWhatever you say.â
âI sincerely wish that were the case,â she told him pertly.
He laughed again. âSo we agree to three minutes on the kiss?â
âThree seems like a long time.â She gave him a skeptical look. âI vote one.â
âThree.â
âWeâre settling on two, then.â When he didnât challenge that, she added, âWhat about hands?â
He raised an eyebrow at her. âYou want to start the bidding on that one?â
âNo thank you. I learned my lesson with the lips bargaining.â She put her hands on her hips, challenging him. âI just wanted to know where hands factored into this equation.â
Reese grinned.
Quick learner.
âI suppose we can leave hands off the table for now. Unless you object.â
âHardly.â She contemplated for a moment, and then gave him a narrow-eyed look. âDid we leave anything out?â
âYou tell me.â He was enjoying this far, far too much.
âI feel like if I miss something, youâre going to use it against me.â
He laughed. âDouble entendre?â
âSee, there you go again.â
âHey, Iâm ready whenever you are.â He gestured expansively. âJust waiting for you to get a move on.â
âMe?â She sputtered again. âWhy do I have to make the first move?â
âBecause you lost the bet. Those were the rules.â He crossed his arms over his chest. âNow quit stalling.â
âIâm not stalling!â Her shoulders rose in a huff.
âArenât you? Because I can go back inside if you want to call this whole thing off. Itâs clear to me you have no intention of going throughââ
His words
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain