Free Just One Kiss: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 1) by Jami Wagner

this. Into me.
    “We just can’t.” She places her hand on my
chest to push me back. She stands quickly, reaches for her purse
then turns for the door. With each step she takes I feel cold.
Everything felt right with her in my arms and now she’s gone. This
is wrong. I kneel, reaching for her before she makes it to the
door, but her phone rings and the moment is over.

Chapter Nine
    Kelsey
    What I wouldn’t have given for the locksmith
to wait just ten more minutes. As I walk across the street to meet
him, I glance over my shoulder at Ethan’s house. He’s leaning
against the doorframe, watching me with his arms crossed and a
smile on his face. I wanted to kiss him. I want more than just to
kiss him. But I can’t let myself fall into that again. Into the
hope that this time it’s real. I can’t assume that every guy will
turn out like Tyler, but I’m not sure it’s a chance I want to take.
That, and just the idea of him demands more focus than anything
else in my life. I need to be 100 percent focused on writing.
    I planned the entire game idea from the
moment I sat down on his couch and turned on the TV. Every time I’m
around him all the emotions I felt when I was fifteen years old
come flooding back. That moment, right before he was about to kiss
me, my mind went blank. I know where I’m at in life and what I
want, but Ethan makes me forget all that.
    I wait patiently as the locksmith lets me
into my house, and Ethan watches us the whole time. I know he isn’t
trying to be creepy. He’s only making sure I get inside safely.
That’s one trait Tyler never had, putting someone else’s safety
first. I turn to give Ethan a small wave good-bye before I close
the door.
    I can’t let the idea of getting hurt keep me
from experiencing something great. Ethan and I—it could be more
than great. And eventually I want to have a family and a career as
an author. Now is as good a time as any to start balancing the two.
I’m going to do it. I’m going to give Ethan a chance.
    First thing tomorrow, I’ll tell him
everything. Lay it all out there and let him make the next
move.
    * * *
    It was hard to sleep last night. My heart
raced the entire evening and my stomach fluttered like a child on
Christmas Eve. I couldn’t wait for morning to get here. Luckily for
me, I don’t have to wait till the clock hits seven before I get up
because the persistent knock at exactly six is hard to ignore. I
make my way down the stairs and stand on my toes to look through
the transom. A groan slips past my lips as I take a deep breath and
open the front door.
    “Good morning, Mrs. Mulligan,” I greet and
take step to the side. She’s holding two coffee cups and a Thermos.
“Would you like to come in?”
    Mrs. Mulligan stands there for a second but
doesn’t look at me. Instead, she stretches her neck and looks
behind me. Poofy, gray hair fills my vision as she surveys the
living room. Finally, her dark brown eyes flash to me and she
smiles.
    “As long as I’m not interrupting anything,”
she says with a mischievous grin. I give her my best smile in
return.
    “Not at all, just a restless night.”
    She walks past me straight for the kitchen
like it’s something she does every day. She takes a seat at the
round wooden table made for six and starts to fill the cups she
brought with her.
    “I’d be restless, too, if I were your age
and a boy like that lived across the street from me. Do you know
much about him?” she asks. I try to not laugh as I join her at the
table. She didn’t waste any time getting to the point of her visit
this morning.
    “His name is Ethan Connelly. He’s a cousin
of my friend Sara.”
    A startled expression appears on her face
and her hand bumps her cup. Some of her coffee sloshes onto the
table and she starts to rise. I stop her.
    “I’ll get you a napkin, Mrs. Mulligan.”
    “Please, call me Helen.”
    I grab a towel and return to the table.
    “So, is this Max Connelly’s son?” she
asks.
    I