small-town-romance

Private fireworks are far superior to public fireworks.

He was sort of Kimmie__ boss. And he wasn__ just a thorn in General Mom__ side _ he was a whole stinking rosebush. If the rosebush were six feet of hunky, cake-blaspheming, rich playboy.

He liked the way her smile infected him and infused a bit of heat into his cold bones__ warmth missing until he'd opened the door to her flower shop.

What if pretending is interfering with the person you__e meant to be?_ he said.

Just one more?_ he said, holding up his thumb and index finger to indicate tiny. Oh so small. __ust one more little one? I don__ think that was my best work, and what if this is the only time we ever kiss? Then you__l go on for the rest of your life thinking that__ the best I can do. I don__ think my ego can take that._ He sure as hell hoped this wouldn__ be the only time they ever kissed. In fact, he was going to make damn sure of it, and then some. But for the moment, this angle was going to work for him. He could see her indecision. He leaned closer, his lips nearly touching hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as he whispered against her mouth, __ust one more.

Her eyes slid closed, her secret places pulsed in anticipation, and his lips settled onto the skin beneath her ear. That was magic. She held perfectly still. He pressed a kiss to her neck. Then another, lower. A third, even lower. She squirmed. He dropped his hands. __orry. I---_ __on__ stop,_ Kimmie whispered.

I have a fabulous idea.Oh, I don't like this. Last time you had a fabulous idea I wore a cast for six weeks. I still can't straighten my arm completely.That was years ago. This one will work. Do you have any exceptionally handsome men friends, willing to be my fiancé?

I__e had pedicures before, and I__e had milk shakes. Just never at the same time. And it__ glorious.

Your mother can__ hear you here._ __istance is no match for my mother__ eavesdropping and mind-reading skills._ __ had steel anti-mind-reading plates installed this week. Specially designed to be Marilyn-proof. Also sounds an alarm if she gets within two hundred yards of the building, and I sent the guards downstairs to ninja training. You__e safe.

Life had a way of shifting under her feet like quicksand and she had learned to just make the best of it. Like Gigi always said, __hen God closes a door, he shoves you out the window.

Some people aren't meant to stay in your life. But, that doesn't mean you can't carry a piece of them in your heart.

If my mom sees you here, she__l ---_ __aper the walls with my innards while the innocents watch?

Speaking of cupcakes, Will wants two dozen off your special menu to take on the road after the wedding._ __he, erm, peach kind?_ __he peach kind,_ Lindsey said. __ like the peach kind,_ Josh said. Mikey had named them Sex on a Peach. And they were Kimmie__ second biggest seller, after the Hairy Dicks, which were coconut cake balls strategically placed with Dahlia__ chocolate-covered, ice cream-filled bananas. And Josh__ frown had disappeared, and now he was grinning as if he knew it. All of it.

He felt lightheaded, almost dizzy, as he deepened the kiss, his fingers curling lightly around the tendrils of her hair. His other arm encircled her waist, pressing her closer, and for a moment he went for broke, kissing her with everything he had. And now that he knew he wasn__ going to get his face slapped, he slowed down to take his time and do it right. The outside world simply ceased to exist. There was only Chloe, warm in his embrace, as her lips responded to his.

Her fingertips dug into his shoulders as she pressed closer. Then her lips parted to his, and there was no mistaking the passion in her response. Wild and sweet_ His eyes were closed, but in his mind__ eye he saw the lights of the giant tree, and he knew he__ found a Christmas memory worth keeping.

His expression was strained. "I'm trying like hell to be the good guy here. I need you to go inside and lock the door behind you to keep out of trouble.""I thought Wildstone was safe.""It is. The trouble isn't going to come from the unknown. It's going to come from me. Go, Quinn. Now. And lock your door."She stared up at him, mesmerized by the thought of him being trouble, images going through her head of him proving it to her, all of them involving little to no clothing and a bed.

It__ ok,_ he murmured. ____e got you.

You and I have been friends long enough to know how to treat each other . . . I'm leaving for college. I think I've outgrown the rules.