Drop, Cover, and Hold On (The Improbable Meet-Cute), page 4
She didn’t know why she already knew that Harris was. But she did. “I hoped we would. That is, unless you—”
He grabbed the third print from her with alacrity. “Oh no, there’s no ‘unless’ on my part.” He set the print on the floor and then knelt next to her at the head of the bed. With one movement, he pulled her down on top of him, and she let out peals of laughter.
“Hmm, where were we?” she asked him, her mouth just millimeters from his.
He cupped one of her breasts and moved his thumb back and forth across her nipple. Her eyes fluttered closed.
“If I remember correctly—and I know I do—I was being driven wild by your breasts.” He moved his hand to her knee and then slid his hand up under her dress to her thigh. “I was also fucking losing it because I realized that when I touch you, you close your eyes, with that look of ecstasy on your face, and that’s the same way you look when you bite into a pastry that you really love.” He moved his hand up higher and hooked his thumb around her underwear. “And it made me think that I desperately wanted to touch you everywhere—with my hands, my lips, my tongue—so I could see if you look like that at other times.” His lips brushed hers. “Can I do that? Please?”
She didn’t hesitate for a second. “God, yes.”
He leaned forward and kissed her hard and in one motion, pulled her underwear off. For half a second, she regretted not wearing cuter underwear on her walk to the bakery this morning, but since he didn’t even look at them as he dropped them onto the floor, she figured it didn’t matter.
He reached for the hem of her dress, and then paused. “I need this off.”
She nodded her assent, and he pulled her sundress off and dropped it next to the bed. And then before she had a chance to get self-conscious, his hands were all over her. On her thighs, her hips, her belly. And he followed up his hands with his lips.
“You are just so beautiful,” he said into her skin. “You’re so soft, my God, how are you so soft?”
Her whole body shivered from his words, his touch. Her nipples were hard peaks underneath her bra, and she couldn’t stand the constriction of it anymore. She reached back and unhooked it and pulled it off.
He looked up at her and grinned. “Oh, do you want me to touch you there?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Please.”
His hands moved up to cover her breasts, and she let out a deep sigh at the joy of his strong, gentle fingers on her.
“Do you want me to kiss you there?” he asked.
“Absolutely, yes,” she said.
He let out that low chuckle again and moved up her body. He dropped a soft kiss on first one nipple, then the other, and sat back. When after a few seconds he didn’t do anything else, she opened her eyes and glared at him.
“Oh, you want me to keep kissing you there? I get it.”
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. He threw the shirt off and laughed again. “Don’t worry, I’ll stop teasing you.”
She pulled herself up to kiss him, but stopped when she heard a rumbling noise.
“What’s that?” he asked, just as the shaking started.
“Aftershock!” she said. “Aren’t you glad I moved those prints above the bed?”
“For that, and for so many other things,” he said. “I’ll cover you. Now, hold on.” And he rolled on top of her.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Enormous thanks to Maria Gomez for giving me the opportunity to write the bakery/earthquake story I was always meant to write, and for inviting me to be in this collection with so many authors I admire. I’m incredibly grateful to Angela Elson, Lindsey Faber, and everyone else at Montlake; thank you all for being such a joy to work with on this story. Holly Root, I never have enough words to thank you for your advice, support, and cheerleading; you’re just the best. Alyssa Maltese, I appreciate you every day!
I am grateful to so many family, friends, and fellow writers who did the hard work of eating pastries with me as I decided what kinds of pastries Daisy and Harris would share, especially Donna Guillory, Jill Vizas, Kimberly Chin, Simi Patnaik, Nicole Clouse, Jami Attenberg, Amy Spalding, Kayla Cagan, Leann Cawley, Joy Alferness, and Helen Rosner. May you all have perfect flaky croissants forever, without the ground shaking under your feet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © Andrea Scher
Jasmine Guillory is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date, the Reese’s Book Club selection The Proposal, and Drunk on Love. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appétit, and Time, and she is a frequent book contributor on the Today show.
ALSO BY JASMINE GUILLORY
The Wedding Date
The Proposal
The Wedding Party
Royal Holiday
Party of Two
While We Were Dating
By the Book
Drunk on Love
Guillory, Jasmine, Drop, Cover, and Hold On (The Improbable Meet-Cute)
