Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(34)

I sat as still as possible, which wasn’t still at all, but Reese was used to putting makeup on me by now and was a pro at prettying me up, regardless of my constant wiggling.

For a couple minutes, neither of us spoke as she did her thing. My mind wandered to what was about to take place in less than thirty minutes as my stomach pitched with nerves, the good kind and the bad. I couldn’t calm the shaking in my limbs. I almost wanted to vomit and yet the hope inside me had sprouted such huge wings, I was sure I might start floating any second.

“I feel like Pinocchio,” I said, needing to say something because I feared I might burst if I contained everything bubbling inside me.

Reese paused from applying blush to my cheeks so she could send me an odd look. “You’re lying about something?”

“No.” I laughed. “I’m finally going to get to be a real girl.”

Instead of sharing my excitement, Reese’s eyes fill will sorrow. “Oh, Sarah...sweetie, you’ve always been real.”

I shook my head. “No. Not really. I mean, I’ve always been a spectator. Aside from furthering my education, I’ve never really gone out and done something. This feels like my first chance to do something. To live.”

She still didn’t get it, though. “I...I’m so sorry. I never realized you felt that way. I mean, both Mason and I have always tried to—”

I caught her hands to stall her. “Reese. You and Mason are amazing. I could never deserve everything you’ve ever done for me. But this is something I’m finally doing for myself.”

“Oh,” she whispered and her eyes went dewy as if she were about to burst into tears. Then she lunged forward and threw her arms around me to give me a huge hug. “I’m so proud of you, Sarah,” she said into my ear. “For everything you’ve accomplished and everything you’re still accomplishing. You’re the best sister-in-law and aunt to my babies a woman could ever have. I wish you all the happiness in the world tonight.”

When she pulled back, her eyes were no longer dewy. Now they were swimming with moisture. “Damn it.” She wiped the wetness away. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.”

Plucking a tissue from the box she’d been using to perfect my makeup, I handed it to her. “Is it my turn to remind you I’m twenty-two?”

“As if age has anything to do with it,” she mumbled, snagging the tissue and blowing her nose. “This is your first date. I’d have been weepy if you were ten or thirty.”

Great. Now I was going to get weepy. And Reese had already finished my eyes. I was sure they looked wonderful too. I didn’t want to ruin all her lovely work.

She’d always been there for me and strived to make me feel good about myself. This woman was the mother of my heart, and I was so blessed to have her in my life. I always knew I could ask her for any advice, which reminded me...

“What if he wants to kiss me?”

Okay, I was probably shooting way above my pay grade with that little wish, but...it could happen. Maybe. Seth had asked me out. Surely he thought I was kiss-worthy.

Surely.

“Do you want him to?” Reese asked, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. When she wiggled her eyebrows, I laughed and blushed.

“I don’t know.” Yes! I so badly wanted to know what a kiss felt like.

“Well...” Lips tightening as she tried to reign in her goofy grin, Reese drew in a thoughtful breath. “You kiss Issa and Gray all the time, so you already have the mouth-pursing part down. With mouth-to-mouth kisses, I guess the main thing to avoid is bumping noses. So when he leans in, he’ll probably tilt his head slightly one way, ergo you should try to tilt yours the other way.”

I practiced tilting my head, and Reese laughed, catching my face between her hands. “Maybe not that much. There. Like that.”

Heat raced through me as I remembered just a few nights ago when Brandt and I had been in my bed pressing our foreheads together. We’d tilted our heads just like this.

It was as if we’d been preparing for something that would never happen between us.

Clearing my throat, I murmured, “I think I know what you mean.” Then I gulped. “What about tongue?”

“On your first kiss?” Reese squawked, eyes going wide. “Oh, hell no.”

Cheeks heating even more, I said, “He won’t know it’s my first.” At least I hoped to God he wouldn’t ever learn I was that lame.

“Well, it is my humble, honest—and right—opinion that any first kiss between two people should never start immediately with tongue.” I grinned as she got wound up. It was always entertaining when Reese decided to impart her views on life with me. “A first kiss is an introductory stage, two strangers still getting to know each other.” She picked up two tubes of lipstick and held them a couple inches apart as if pretending they were two people about to kiss.

“If you attack, full force, first thing”—she smashed the tubes together and wiggled them around viciously—”you ruin the entire experience. If you start out strong, you can only go down from there, so...” She backed the lipsticks away from each other, and then slowly crept them closer as if they were sniffing each other out. Flirting. “You start out with simple lip-to-lip contact. And if that goes well, then your bodies may naturally shift closer.”