Free The Kiera Hudson Prequels 2 by Tim O'Rourke Page A

it?” Kiera said, her eyes never leaving mine.
    “ And here,” I said, daring to brush the tip my thumb over her lower lip.
    She didn’t flinch or move away at my touch, and if I were ever to kiss Kiera Hudson, that was the moment. But that moment became two, three, then four. And the longer it lasted, the weaker the spell that had suddenly fallen over us grew, then faded altogether. The music stopped and the silence became deafening.
    “ Perhaps I should go and clean up properly,” Kiera whispered, easing herself from my arms and heading for the kitchen door.
    “ Okay, sure,” I said, my heart racing. I turned back to the cake I’d been making.
     
    Kiera
     
    With my skin still tingling from where Tom had touched me, I raced across the hall. I climbed the stairs two at a time. I headed down the hall and back to my room. Pushing open the door, I darted inside. With my heart racing, I pressed my back against the door and waited for my breathing to level out. What was happening to me? What was I thinking? I needed to get a grip of myself. I had been a heartbeat away from kissing Tom and making a complete fool of myself. I dropped onto the bed.
    I felt my cheeks flush hot at the thought of what might have happened if I had actually lost my mind and kissed him. I would’ve never been able to look him in the eye again out of complete embarrassment. And what would have poor Tom thought? He would have been embarrassed too. I could have ruined everything. I could have ruined our friendship. I sat up on the edge of the bed and felt angry with myself for being so foolish. I usually had more sense. I still had ten weeks or more of training school to get through with Tom. Did I really want to spend those next ten weeks trying to keep out of Tom’s way because I’d embarrassed the both of us? Why risk the amazing friendship I had found with Tom, all for a kiss? I must be losing my mind.
    I touched my cheek where Tom had wiped the flour away. I slowly let my hand drop back into my lap. And however much I told myself to not be so stupid and to get my feelings in check, I couldn’t scrub away how good it felt to be held in his arms, to have our faces just inches apart while he looked down into my eyes, his hands soft against my face. I had never been held like that before. I had never felt feelings like that before.
    Kiera, stop it! I told myself, springing up from the edge of the bed. I went to the bathroom where I ran myself a cool shower. Stripping off my clothes I stepped beneath the water. I washed the flour from my hair and the feeling of Tom’s touch against my skin.
     
    Even though I had long since climbed from the shower and put on a clean top and jeans, I stayed in my room. I sat by the window just like I spent so much of my time doing in my rented rooms back in Havensfield. I looked out across the fields. My intention was to stay in my room until the time came for us to leave for the séance. I hoped that by then, Tom would have forgotten all about what had happened in the kitchen. Tom wasn’t stupid and he would’ve known I was hoping that he would have kissed me. If we were ever going to kiss, that would have been the moment. And the fact that Tom didn’t kiss me proved that I was right in my suspicions that he saw me as nothing more than a friend. I know, because I see everything!
    So I sat in the room at the window until the sky had turned indigo in colour. As I sat and debated whether now was the right time to leave my room, there was a knock at my bedroom door. I got up from my seat. The door swung open and Tom stood in the doorway.
    “ Are you hiding from me?” he asked, trying hard to sound carefree.
    “ Erm… no… I had a shower then fell asleep on the bed,” I lied. I couldn’t tell him I was too embarrassed to leave my room and face him.
    Tom took another step into the room. He wrung his fingers anxiously together. “Look, Kiera I just wanted to say that I’m sorry if I…”
    “ You have