Tessa.
His kiss lingered, unhurried, like he had nowhere else to be and all the time in the world to memorize me. When he finally pulled back, it wasn't far, just enough for his forehead to rest against mine. His breath was warm, uneven, brushing my lips every time he exhaled.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The silence wasn't empty. It was heavy. Full. The kind that hummed under the skin.
"I should finish the sauce," he said quietly, though his hands didn't loosen their hold on my waist.
I smiled, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "You don't sound very convincing."
A soft huff of a laugh escaped him. "That's because I'm not."
He turned slightly, angling his body so he was half between me and the counter, as if instinctively shielding me from the rest of the world, even though we were alone now. His thumb traced slow, absent circles at my hip, a touch so subtle it made my pulse stumble.
