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♥ Excerpt Reveal ♥ Tough Enough by M. Leighton

cooltext144169227680732cooltext144169437322481 (1)Teaser

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She gets all fidgety and nervous and adorable under my scrutiny, so I release her. Albeit reluctantly.

โ€œSo, a minivan,โ€ she says, dropping her eyes and clearing her throat. I love that I put her off balance. I doubt much gets under this girlโ€™s skin and Iโ€™m happy as hell that I appear to be making my way in, slowly but surely.

โ€œA minivan,โ€ I confirm, raising the wine bottle and glass questioningly.

โ€œOh, sorry. Kitchenโ€™s through there.โ€ Katie points to the most obvious doorway and I head in that direction. She follows after a few seconds. When I stop at the small island, she breezes past me, setting down the glass that I brought her and keeping her face averted. Makes me think she might be blushing again. After she rummages through a drawer for another minute, she turns her composed self back to me, a corkscrew in one hand. โ€œThere has to be a story behind it.โ€

โ€œBehind what?โ€ I ask, content to just watch her rather than talk. Or think.

Her grin is more pronounced this time. โ€œBehind the minivan.โ€

โ€œOh, right. The minivan. I have a brother who came with me. Heโ€™s handicapped. I dropped him off at the gym on the way to the park.โ€

Her expression softens. Visibly. โ€œY-you have a handicapped brother?โ€

โ€œI do.โ€

โ€œAnd you . . . you take him places with you? You take care of him?โ€

I shrug. โ€œWell, I donโ€™t know about that. I mean, heโ€™s grown, so . . .โ€

โ€œDoes he live with you?โ€

โ€œFor the most part.โ€

โ€œThatโ€™s . . . thatโ€™s . . .โ€ Katie is looking at me like sheโ€™s just now seeing me. Really seeing me. After several seconds, she glances down at the counter, at the glasses sheโ€™s arranging in a straight line with the bottle of red. โ€œThatโ€™s very kind of you. Iโ€™m sure he appreciates it.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m sure he does, but like most guys, heโ€™s got a piss-poor way of showing it.โ€

โ€œJust like a damn man,โ€ she says softly, glancing up at me from beneath her lashes, the hint of a playful smile still curving her lips.

โ€œBastards,โ€ I reply.

Her eyes sparkle up at me and it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to haul her into my arms and kiss her senseless. Which might take a while. Sheโ€™s got plenty of sense about her. Too much, maybe.

After a minute, when the temperature in the little kitchen is rising noticeably, Katie clears her throat again, pulling that swath of rich auburn hair over her shoulder like Iโ€™ve seen her do before. โ€œSo what is it that you drive when youโ€™re not carting your brother around?โ€

โ€œMaybe if youโ€™re nice to me Iโ€™ll show you one day.โ€

She grunts indignantly, her lips parting yet still curved. โ€œIโ€™m always nice to you.โ€

โ€œBut you could be nicer,โ€ I tell her with a half-grin.

She raises one dark brow, the sexiest damn thing I think Iโ€™ve ever seen on a woman. Besides her licking the corner of her mouth when sheโ€™s concentrating or nervous, that is. โ€œAnd just how . . . nice are you expecting me to be?โ€

โ€œNot that nice,โ€ I answer. โ€œUnless you just want to be that nice. I would never argue if you wanted to be extra, extra, extra nice to me.โ€

I give her my widest, most innocent smile. She laughs outright, an action that fills the kitchen with a delicate tinkle and turns her face from beautiful to breathtaking. A display like this from her is pretty rare, so pulling it out of her makes me feel like Iโ€™ve won the lottery.

โ€œDo that again,โ€ I request quietly, so drawn to her that I canโ€™t stop myself from moving closer, from reaching out, from touching.

โ€œDo what again?โ€ she asks. When I cup her silky cheek in my palm, she straightens, but she doesnโ€™t back away. A good sign.

โ€œLaugh.โ€

โ€œI canโ€™t laugh on command,โ€ she explains, her eyes flickering up to mine and away, up to mine and away.

โ€œI swear to God, I think Iโ€™d do just about anything to hear that again, to see your face light up like that.โ€

My thumb blindly stroking the crest of her high cheekbone, I catch and hold her eyes this time. Theyโ€™re like melted sapphires, a fathomless liquid that I could easily let myself drown in.

Katieโ€™s lips open and close a couple of times, like sheโ€™s trying to find words where there are none. But the time for talk is over. I feel like Iโ€™ve waited patiently for an eternity to taste, and now itโ€™s time for my reward.

Slowly, I bend my face toward hers, hoping she wonโ€™t move away, praying that she wonโ€™t stop me. โ€œYouโ€™ve been on my mind since the first day I saw you, Beautiful Katie. Itโ€™s time you give me the answer to a question thatโ€™s been haunting me for weeks.โ€

I can feel the sweet, shallow puffs of her breath fanning my lips as I get closer. โ€œW-whatโ€™s that?โ€

โ€œDo your lips taste like cotton candy?โ€

โ€œHow would I know?โ€ she asks a bit dazedly.

โ€œGive me five minutes and Iโ€™ll tell you.โ€

I bring my other hand up to hold her face still as I brush my mouth over hers. When she doesnโ€™t move away, doesnโ€™t push me away, I sink into her lips like I might sink into a bed made of marshmallows. Sweet, plump, light-as-air marshmallows. And, God help me, Katie sinks right back.

 

Oct 5, 2015

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October 5th

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