His mouth touches mine and the world stops.

I nearly gasp, I would if my body could remember how. My lips purse on their own, blending with his without a moment to think or breathe.

I kiss him back.

I kiss Nate Scott.

I kiss…

Not my husband.

“I’m sorry, I...” I turn my lips away. “I can’t. I’m—”

“I know,” he says, hovering over me. “I knew it was wrong. I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry...”

We stand still, barely moving as we breathe in each other’s air.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asks.

My muscles lock in place.

Yes, I think.

That’s the correct answer. It’d be easier to say it out loud if he didn’t have that soft hand still clinging to my cheek.

“Nate,” I whisper, hesitating.

“Tell me to go and I’ll go,” he says, his finger slowly moving toward my ear again. “You can forget this ever happened.”

My lips twitch. “Would you forget?”

“Are you kidding?” He smiles. “You’re Kimber Kyle.”

I look up into his playful eyes. “Nate…”

“Kimber...” he leans closer, “if you don’t tell me to go right now, I’m going to do it again.”

“Nate—”

He crushes his mouth on mine. I open my arms to him, falling even deeper into his warm embrace as his hands roam behind me to rest on my lower back.

My heart pounds. It’s been so long since I’ve been touched this way, held this way, kissed this way. I feel the desire on his breath, the trembling of his hands, the bulge of his groin…

I should stop this. I should tell him to go. I’ll let him keep his teenage dream come true but this can’t go on. This can’t...

I’m a married woman.

I part my lips and his tongue massages mine. I tighten my grip on his body as my knees buckle and my ankles sway. Nate flexes, easily holding me up as he eases me backward onto the kitchen table.

I’m a married...

His hands move up my curves, graze my breasts.

I’m…

His lips drop to my neck and he kisses me with a growl in his throat.

I...

His touch slides under my sweater and I feel his hand touch the scars on my ribs.

I tense up.

“Stop—!” I gasp.

I jolt backward but he’s got me pinned against the table. The glass bottles shift on top as the table legs scratch along the hardwood floor.

Nate pulls his hands away. “I’m sorry,” he says, breathing hard.

I hug my waist, clinging to the sweater and forcing it back down. “I’m not...” My voice breaks. “I don’t want you to see—”

“Shh,” he whispers. “It’s okay. You don’t have to show me.”

I cower under his gaze as guilt fills my gut. My eyes burn and my lips tremble. I keep my head down, feeling ready to collapse.

“Kimber,” he says. “Look at me.”

I take in his soothing voice. Slowly, I do as he asks me. I turn my head up again, staring into those darn playful eyes of his.

With a smile, he leans in and kisses my forehead. Then, he flicks my hair out from behind my ear, letting it fall back down to its usual place.

“You’re beautiful,” he says again.

My teeth chatter in my mouth, wrecked by a burst of warmth I haven’t felt in so long. Goosebumps travel from my fingers to my toes. Everything radiates brand new.

“Say that again,” I say.

He smiles wider, still hovering so close to my lips. “You’re beautiful,” he says. “And he doesn’t deserve you.”

I tilt my head. “Nate...”

“He might have once, but...” His hands find their way back to my arms. “Not anymore. He shouldn’t make you feel like this. He should be standing where I am now. He’s the one who should call you beautiful, you’re right about that.” I shiver beneath his touch as it slowly climbs up my arms. “He’s the one who should be kissing you, not me. But if I’m gonna be honest here, I’m happy he’s not.”

I look up into his bright face, unable to stop the smiling stretching along my mouth. “You are?”

“Close your eyes,” he whispers.

I raise a sharp brow.

He chuckles. “You can trust me. Close your eyes.”

I let my lids fall and I take a soothing breath.

Nate takes my left hand and guides my fingers to grip the back of his right hand. “Show me where you want to be touched,” he says.

“What?” I ask, my eyes still closed.

“Guide my hand,” he says. “I won’t move it anywhere else, I swear.”

I tremble as my heart pounds. His hand sits loosely in mine, ready and willing to be moved and placed wherever I want it to go. I exhale, relaxing my thoughts as I bring his open palm to my left cheek again. It’s a good place to start.

After a moment, I gently slide it down to my chin. He shifts his thumb to rest beneath my bottom lip and my tongue twitches on the roof of my mouth.

“Can I do this?” he asks, giving it a slow swipe toward the edge of my mouth.

I nod. “Yes,” I breathe.

He leans in again and his lips graze my forehead as I feel another swipe along my lip. I let my instincts drive us forward as I inch his hand down to my neckline.

“And here,” I say.

His fingertips travel from my chin to rest on my sweater just above my collarbone.

“Like this?” he whispers as he gently tilts my face upward. He kisses me again, softly and slowly.

“Yes,” I say, breathing harder. Our mouths blend into another kiss for a second longer, the sensation twinging every nerve in my body.

My body begs for more and I move his hand a little lower.

His palm stiffens against my left breast. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Yes.”

Nate kneads me once with his fingers and I feel my nipples stand as chills run down my back. My jaw hangs open as I inhale sharply. A burst of pleasure expels from my core and I press my lips even harder against his. His tongue massages mine, deepening our kiss as his hand continues the soft touch on my breast. He shifts his lips to the side to kiss my cheek, leaving a trail of small kisses as he moves downward along my jawline.

“For the record,” he says, smiling, “you can touch me anywhere you want.”

I laugh and tilt my head back, submitting to the heat of his breath as he kisses my neck.

“Hey, neighbor! You in there?”

Nate rushes backward, letting go of me as Jovie’s voice calls out from outside. I hop off the table, quickly pushing my hair back in place in front of my cheek just before she appears in the open doorway.

Jovie shoves her smiling face inside. The edges of her mouth twitch the moment she sees Nate standing beside me.

“Oh, hey, Nate.” She folds her hands in front of her, one of them clenching a paperback book. “Whatcha guys doing?”

“Nothing,” we both say.

Nate clears his throat. “I’m just making a delivery,” he says.

“And I was just...” I pause and gesture to the easel. “He wanted to see what I was working on, so...”

“It’s pretty good, right?” he asks Jovie.

Jovie’s little, brown eyes hop back and forth between us repeatedly before they finally flick over to the canvas. “Yeah,” she answers with enthusiasm. “It’s beautiful, actually.”

She takes a few steps into the kitchen, her head tilting as she studies it and I grow another shade of red. I don’t usually like sharing my paintings but if this excuse masks what was really going on, then I guess it’s a shade of red I’ll have to handle.

“Anyway, I should get going,” Nate says. He turns away from Jovie to wipe his lips and grabs the empty bottles off the table, along with his hat. “I’ll see you guys on Wednesday...”

I nod.“Yeah. You, too.”

Jovie waves. “Bye, Nate!”

Nate walks out, his gaze taking one final look at me before he disappears out the back door.

“To bed with you.”

I flinch and look at Jovie. “What?”

“That’s the name of the book,” she says, extending her hand. “For tomorrow’s book club. I finally remembered it.”

“Oh!” I take the paperback from her extended hand. “Thank you. I, uh... I’ve actually read this one.”

Jovie groans. “Apparently, I’m the only woman in the world who hasn’t.”

I chuckle. “At least I’ll show up prepared.”

“A step ahead of me already.” She crosses her arms and sighs. “Typical Kimber Kyle. Or, VanHouten, I mean. Sorry, old habit.”

“Yeah.” I nod as I lick my tingling lips. “VanHouten,” I repeat.

I’m Kimber VanHouten.

I’m a married woman.