Kiss Me Not (Kiss Me 1)

Both of them laughed at me.

“How’s it going?” Dad asked, going to Preston’s side. “Are you knocking my daughter off her pedestal yet?”

Preston snorted. “It’s not for lack of trying, sir. But it’s a little tough when she recruits her friends to come and kiss her cheeks over and over.”

“Halley!”

“It’s his fault!” I pointed at Preston. “He started a stupid bet, and now it’s best of three, and I lost yesterday! I can’t help it if I’m a naturally competitive person. You’re the mayor. I get it from you.”

Dad raised his gaze to the ceiling and moved his lips.

He was counting to ten.

He did that when either me or my stepmom, Abigail, had just outsmarted him.

“What’s the price for the loser?”

“Fifty dollars in the other’s bucket and five kisses on the tally,” Preston answered quickly. “High stakes.”

“Who’s won then?”

“We don’t know yet,” I said hesitantly. “We haven’t looked since you’re here?”

Dad straightened the collar of his short-sleeved, white shirt and went to my side. “Well, I’ll be the independent judge and tally them up, shall I?”

“Be our guest.”

Preston jumped off the stage and came over to me. “I’m not giving you fifty bucks,” he muttered.

“You have to at least pretend.” I shrugged one shoulder. “He’s going to expect it to be done in front of him.”

He groaned. “You’re wiping the kisses off the tally, though. No cheating.”

“Only because I’m kicking your ass. You’d keep them if they were yours.” I nudged him with my elbow. “Don’t be salty.”

“That’s not what we bet.”

“I know, but it’s fun watching you lose.”

Dad slipped through the curtain to tally Preston’s kisses for the day.

“You know,” Preston said, leaning into me and turning his head so his breath tickled my cheek. “If I lose, I’m not pulling that bullshit you did yesterday.”

“Cheek kisses count. You know that.”

“I do know that, but that wasn’t what I had in mind when I challenged you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Are you telling me that you want to kiss me?”

Without meaning or wanting to, I moved my own head and met his eyes. There was barely any space between us, and all it would take would be one wobble of balance and boom—I’d be kissing him.

I adjusted my glasses and looked away before it went too far. My dad was right here, after all, and I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to my question.

“Done!” Dad joined us in the middle of the tent. “Preston, you kissed seventy-two people today, and Halley, you kissed eighty people exactly. You win.”

Oh, hell.

I lifted my shoulders to my ears and smiled sweetly at Preston. He swore under his breath and dug in his pocket for his wallet. I took the fifty he handed me with glee and moved to deposit it in my bucket.

“Shall I add the extra five to my board, or would you like to do it?” I asked in an innocent tone.

“I’ll do it in a minute.” He smirked. “One all, then.”

“One all.”

Dad glanced at his watch. “I have to go—good job here, kids, you’re doing great. Halley, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Bye, sir,” Preston said as I tossed up a wave.

My mouth dried out when the curtain fell closed. Preston’s bright blue eyes were focused completely on me, and his lips were curved into a smirk that was far too sexy to be fair.

Something passed between us, something intangible that made my heart skip a beat.

“So. That tally.” I jumped up and scrambled to my feet, looking for the marker to add the one kiss I was owed to my board.

The wooden boards creaked as Preston joined me. My heart thumped against my ribs, and I froze when he stopped right behind me and took the marker from my hand. He didn’t move as he wrapped his arms around my upper body to uncap it.

Very slowly, very carefully, and oh-so-deliberately, he drew one line next to the running tally on the board.

I swallowed hard when he clicked the lid back on the pen. He dropped it, leaving it clattering to the floor, and moved. His chest brushed against my arm as he moved so he was standing in front of me instead.

I was staring at his chest. I couldn’t look him in the eye, because I knew what was coming.

The sooner I looked at him, the sooner it’d happen.

“I never answered your question.”

“What question?” I darted my eyes to the side.

“Just now. You asked me if I wanted to kiss you.”

I did, didn’t I? Right. “Oh,” was all I said.

Slowly, he moved his hand to my chin and gently lifted it. Still, I didn’t look at him, keeping my eyes firmly trained on the front of the tent, even though I was facing him.

“Halley.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to kiss you.”

My eyes darted to his.

“I thought that’d do it.” His lips twitched, and he lowered his head until I had to fight the urge to close my eyes in anticipation of the kiss that was coming.