Free Could This Be Love? by Lee Kilraine Page A

too stupid to live, I’m going to recreate some of my best high school date moves. Stop me when you’ve had enough.”
    “Sijan, you don’t need—”
    “Already? I haven’t even turned on the rotten movie we’ll pretend to watch so I can make my move.” He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and clicked on the television. Making sure the volume was low, he began surfing for a movie with one hand while settling Avery on the sofa next to him. “Hey, look, the pay-per-movie channel is running a Sijan Cates movie marathon.”
    “I’m not that into movies. . . .”
    “So says the president of my fan club.”
    Her eyes widened when she realized what she’d let slip. The woman had told so many whoppers she couldn’t keep them straight. The question he should be asking, if his hormones weren’t steering the ship, was why lie? But that wasn’t what tonight was about. Tonight was about being free from all the pressure and just enjoying themselves. “Relax. Making out to one of my own movies holds no appeal. Here we go. An old Hitchcock movie so when you get scared you can hold on to me.”
    “I don’t scare easy.”
    “Huh. Then I’ll hold on to you.” He waited until she had settled against the back of the couch, then extended his arms, stretching them both out wide, making sure to end with one arm wrapped around her shoulders.
    “Very smooth.”
    “Years of practice. Once I’ve made my stretch move, I begin to round the bases.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “First base. You know, kissing. Only not just kissing, but kissing of the French persuasion.” He reached out his hand to caress hers, the simple contact arcing through him as if he’d touched two live wires together.
    Her tongue darted out and licked her lower lip. “I’m pretty sure we already covered that base earlier today in the elevator.”
    “We sure did. But we can’t just move on to second base. We need to go back and tag up at first.” He gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Slow, thorough kisses. French kisses, each exploring the warmth of each other’s lips and mouth.
    And just like that, they caught fire. He couldn’t get enough of her, and she was touching and grabbing right back. Time became a non-dimension. Five minutes or five hours, he wasn’t sure and didn’t care. The only thing he knew was he wanted more, but he was more than fine to let Avery set the pace. She pulled her lips from his and kissed her way to his ear, where he felt her quick, panting breaths as she contorted her body, twisting her arms behind her to rip the zipper back down.
    “Second. I’m ready for second base.”
    “I can guarantee you’ll make second base safely.” He pulled her up to straddle her legs over his lap until she sat right in front of him. Slowly he eased her dress forward, down her shoulders, separating their bodies just enough for the dress to slip down her torso.
    Sucking in a sharp breath, Avery pressed her hand to her chest, stopping the descent of the dress. His body tensed and he leaned back, ceding all space and sovereignty to her. Her eyes searched his face, and he hoped he had what she was looking for. “Whatever you want.”
    Nodding, more to herself than to him, she pushed the dress down to her waist with both hands. His breath caught in his lungs at the sight of her breasts, barely covered in pale wisps of lingerie. Beautiful, but his eyes whipped back to her face, needing to see she wanted this as much as he did. “Are you sure?”
    She cupped his face in her hands, leaning forward to direct her gaze hot on his. “Yes, I’m sure. I want you to touch me. Please.”
    Capturing her lips again in a warm, slow kiss, he let his hands glide across her collarbones, over her shoulders, and down her well-toned arms. He paused to stroke the sensitive inner bend of her elbow until he couldn’t delay temptation anymore and cupped her breast. He used her indrawn breath as a guide, caressing her breasts with both hands as he skimmed