Chapter 23
Fuck, her lips taste like sugar. Belle’s body is so damn pliant and willing, melting against mine as I hold her as tight as I dare.
Kissing a human is nowhere near as strange as I thought it would be, and after a few moments, I find an angle that makes her breath hitch and arousal fizz inside me. The peachy-sweet scent of her shampoo fills my lungs every time I breathe, and all I want is more.
More of the little sighs and gasps she makes as I explore her mouth with my tongue.
More of her impossibly soft skin that I can feel under my fingertips as her shirt rides up and exposes a sliver of her lower back.
More of the expansive feeling of something magic sparking between us.
Kissing Belle feels like I’ve been drowning and she’s the only source of air.
The elation doesn’t last long. Something crunches behind us, and I pull back, gasping as I turn toward the source of the noise. There’s nothing there, but it’s too late. The spell is broken, and reality comes crashing back in.
“You kissed me.” I touch my mouth reverently, a hint of her sweet, sticky lip gloss still there as I turn back to Belle.
God, she looks so pretty, all flushed and breathless because of me.
“You kissed me back,” she replies, a hint of defensiveness in her voice.
“I did.” I swallow hard, resisting the urge to kiss her again, because stars, my body is screaming at me for more. “Why did you kiss me?”
She gestures at my hat, which got knocked to the ground during our vigorous kiss.
“You gave me your hat! Which is pretty damn presumptuous, if you ask me, considering I didn’t even know you were interested in me like that.
Also, how the hell was I supposed to know that you giving me your hat meant you wanted to sleep with me?
I had to deal with August and Remy being weird and cryptic about it and—”
I place a hand on Belle’s arm to break her increasingly anxious stream of words. “I didn’t give you my hat to proposition you.”
She blinks. “You didn’t?”
“No.” I brace myself, expecting her to ask me why I did it, knowing I don’t have a clear answer.
It was a foolish, impulsive thing. I was caught up in the moment, in the connection and yearning I felt when she told me I had her and the way she looked at me like she might really mean it.
I gave her my hat because I wanted to see a piece of me with her. I wanted to claim her, if only for a few hours before I came back to my senses.
And yes, maybe a small part of me had romantic intent, but I figured she’d never pick up on that. That I could indulge in the fantasy of Belle being mine for a while before reality set back in.
Belle’s face pales. “Oh god. I thought because the internet said…August told me to look it up—fuck, I practically jumped you! You’re telling me you didn’t even want me to kiss you?”
I should lie to her. Tell her I haven’t thought about kissing her for weeks. But I can’t stand the thought of her being even more embarrassed around me or being ashamed of the best kiss of my life.
I shake my head. “I didn’t say that. Sure, it wasn’t my intent, but…” Fuck, I shouldn’t say this, but the words keep spilling from my mouth, roughened by the memory of her lips on mine. “I wanted it.”
“O-oh.” Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and her breath hitches as I instinctively step closer. “That’s good.”
“I don’t know about that,” I murmur. “Now that I know what it’s like to kiss you, I don’t know how I’ll stay away.”
She closes the gap between us, her hand sliding up my chest. “Why do you need to stay away?”
I groan as arousal and want surge within me. “Belle, you know why. We’re business partners, and only just now working well together. This…or more than this…” My cock swells at the idea of more. “Is a bad idea.”
“You’re right,” she breathes, not moving away. “We should keep things professional. I don’t want to jeopardize the ranch…” She sounds like she’s trying to convince herself.
“Okay. Then we agree. This can’t happen again.”
Belle nods. “Y-yeah.” Her thick lashes flutter, and her lips part, and suddenly I lose control of myself, gripping her hip and dipping my head to claim her mouth.
She gasps against my lips, and I drink down the sound greedily, even knowing I need to stop. Her hands grip the collar of my shirt, not to push me away but to hold me closer.
Just a little more. Just one more moment where I get to feel Belle’s sunshine before I let the clouds roll back in.
The sound of tires on gravel breaks us apart, and we turn to see August pulling up in his truck. Belle waves to him, stepping further away from me, a smile plastered on her face.
I suck in a stabilizing breath, hoping that my best friend can’t tell how I’m trembling from the intensity of the kiss. The last thing I need now is to explain to him how I’m fucking things up by messing around with Belle.
I don’t need a lecture; I can beat myself up about it just fine on my own.
August leans out the window of his truck. “Guests are here!”
Nerves bubble up inside me. “Shit.”
Belle stoops to pick up my hat and passes it to me with a gentle smile. “That’s your cue, cowboy.” Our fingertips brush, sending a frisson of desire through me. “We’ve got this,” she murmurs, holding my gaze.
Then she slides away, and I’m left, hat in hand, wishing more than anything that I could put it back on her head so everyone who stays here this weekend knows she’s off-limits.
“Want a ride up to the lodge, or are you going to walk?” August asks.
I scowl at him, sliding my grumpy demeanor firmly back into place. “And kick up a bunch of dust with that monstrosity of yours? Go park it at our cabin and then go back to work.”
August chuckles, unbothered by my stern words. “Someone’s touchy today. Remember to be nice to the guests. I’ll be over with the ladies if any of my adoring fans want to come say hi.”
He drives off, and I roll my eyes.
Belle laughs for a moment, and then there’s silence between us. Neither of us moves, and the tension feels like a weight crushing my chest.
“Suppose I should go greet the guests as they arrive,” I sigh, setting my hat on my head. “You coming?”
Despite my less than stellar interpersonal skills, we’d planned for me to be the “face” of the ranch this weekend to play into the minotaur-run business angle.
But that doesn’t mean that Belle can’t be there too.
Though I don’t know how I’ll be able to focus on anything else if she’s in the room right now.
“I need to stay here and finish some prep for indoor activities in case the rain comes back. And I’m baking a cake for Remy.”
My brow knits together. “A cake for Remy? Shit, is today his birthday? I thought that was in a few months.” I keep a calendar of birthdays and important dates on the computer in the office, but I’ve been too busy with the quick refurbishments to check it.
“No, it’s a luck cake. He was going to bake it, but I offered to do it since he has more important things to do. I guess it’s a minotaur or a family tradition to bake a cake for good luck when something important is happening.”
I shrug. “Never heard of it, but then again, we didn’t celebrate holidays or special occasions. My father thought it was a waste of time and money.”
Belle’s lips slant into a frown. “Well, he sounds like a jerk.”
“He is. Was. Who knows if he’s alive or not?” I snort, unbothered by the morbid thought.
“So, did you not celebrate birthdays either?” Belle asks, her frown deepening.
“Hell no.” When she looks horrified, I shake my head. “Don’t worry. Dawn more than made up for it when I moved here. She always went out of her way to celebrate my birthday. Even when I told her it wasn’t necessary.”
The memory of her putting a pair of tiny party hats on the tips of my horns, cackling with glee as I scowled at her, washes over me.
She’d torment me a little with that sort of thing, knowing it secretly amused me, and then would haul out a giant chocolate-frosted cake with “Happy Birthday Cal” on it in letters that got progressively messier over time.
Last year, August helped her since her hands shook too much, but his lettering ended up being even less legible than hers.
Shit, now isn’t the time to miss her. I’ve got to go be pleasant and friendly to a bunch of strangers.
“That’s so sweet.” Belle rests a hand on my arm, and I blink back the tears welling in my eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll take over birthday duty.”
“Oh, good,” I huff sarcastically.
She pats my arm and laughs. The warm, bright sound makes me want to scoop her against me and drink her amusement from her lips.
“Alright then.” I clear my throat and take a step away so I won’t kiss her for a third time. “I better go.”
“Yeah.”
Belle watches me as I head off the porch and toward the walking path to the lodge. I’m almost to the treeline when she calls out to me.
“Cal, I promise I won’t make things weird,” she shouts.
I turn back, heart hammering in my chest. “Too late for that. You’re the weirdest person I’ve met.”
She scoffs, shaking her head at my dumb joke. “You know what? I think I’m cured of any desire for a repeat performance of that kiss.”
I laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. “Don’t recall saying an encore was an option.”
“God, you’re such an ass. Get out of here before I find Doodle and sic him on you.” Her scowl is adorable, and not very convincing, but I’m sure my posturing is equally weak.
We both know that we want more. It only makes me like Belle more that she’s willing to move past the mistake of kissing each other with humor.
I turn to walk away, but she calls my name again.
“What?” I say with a dramatic sigh.
“Good luck this weekend. It’s going to be great. This is only the start of the good things coming our way. I can feel it in my gut.”
Her reassurances soothe the nerves I didn’t realize were rising again. “I’m glad you can feel that. All I feel in my gut are the beans from last night’s chili.”
Belle grimaces. “Ew, get out of here!”
I laugh and head off to the main lodge, bolstered by Belle’s confidence, a goofy smile stuck on my face.