Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(35)

The lipstick tubes eased against each other, and my clothes suddenly felt a little snug against my chest. “Before you know it, your hand might grip his shoulder, or neck, or something, and then...then when breathing escalates and hearts thump a little faster, he might test out the waters and nudge his tongue against your lips, asking for access.”

My gaze held magnetized by the kissing lipstick cases, I gulped. “And if that happens?”

She grinned. “Well, if you want him in, you let him in. Oh, but...” She winced, pulling the lipsticks apart. “Don’t just open your mouth and then do nothing with your tongue. That’s called a dead fish kiss. Very bad. You have to do stuff with your tongue too if he’s doing stuff with his.”

“I do?” Oh, crap. This was beginning to sound complicated. “Like what?”

Should I be taking notes?

Reese frowned at the two bottles before tossing one aside and uncapping the other. As she brought it to my mouth to apply a layer, she murmured, “I don’t know. Just kind of mimic what he does.”

“Mimic,” I repeated, confused, suddenly hoping Seth didn’t try to kiss me now. I would so suck at it.

“It’s basically just instinctual stuff.” Tossing aside the lipstick and picking up lip gloss to coat over what she’d just applied to my mouth, she shrugged. “Hard to explain, but once you’re there, you just kind of do it without thinking about it.”

Great. I had zero instinctive skills. All the anticipation I’d been feeling swiftly plummeted into dread.

What the hell was I thinking going on a date? Brandt was right; I was a sexless being. I didn’t belong in the dating, kissing, instinctive world.

“Relax,” Reese murmured, catching on to my anxiety. She patted my cheek and grinned. “Don’t even think about that part. Just have fun, get to know him, be yourself. You’ll do great.”

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang.

The sound vibrated through my chest like the gong of doom.

“Oh, God,” I whimpered.

“Yay!” Reese cheered, doing a happy little jig in front of me. “He’s here...and a few minutes early, too. That’s a good sign.” Grabbing my wheelchair, she rolled it to me so I could climb in. “Come on, chickie. It’s go-time!”

I pushed to my feet, no longer as chipper as she seemed to be. After taking a wobbly step forward, I sank into my chair, blew out a shaky breath and looked up at Reese.

“You look amazing,” she said before I could ask.

I grinned. I might bomb this dating thing completely, but at least I could be satisfied with knowing I’d look good while I went down.

Reese followed me from the room and down the hall to the foyer where Seth was standing just inside the doorway while he talked to Mason about having a place to store my wheelchair in whatever he drove. All the while, he untrustingly eyed Issa and Gray, who were staring up at him with great curiosity.

A finger jabbed me in the back right between the shoulder blades as Reese hissed in my ear, “Oooh, he brought flowers. Score!”

Finally, Issa pointed and said, “Flower.”

“Uh...” Seth glanced at the bouquet of daisies in his hand and jumped as if startled to see them. “Oh. Okay.” He plucked one from the batch. “Here you go, princess.”

As he handed it over, Reese poked me again, hissing, “Did you just see that? Oh my God, so sweet.”

I waved a hand to silence her because I was pretty sure Seth had heard her, too. Both he and Mason looked over, just as Gray began to throw a fit because his sister had gotten a flower and he hadn’t.

When Seth realized he better give the boy a flower too or he’d have World War Three on his hands, he quickly pinched off another stem and handed it over. Gracen, however, used his posy like a sword to duel with his sister, poking her in the eye. She shrieked in outrage, smacking him back with her flower, and both their parents interceded, pulling them apart and hauling them away, basically leaving me and Seth alone in the foyer.

He sent me a rueful grin before handing over the remains of my bouquet. “Here. Sorry about that. There’s still a couple left for you, I guess.”

I laughed as I took the bouquet from him, warmth glowing through me because he was being so nice. I guessed—hoped—that meant I hadn’t messed up yet. “Thank you.” Just as I brought them to my nose to inhale their sweet fragrance, one of the kids started to wail in the other room.

Seth cringed. “Wow. I didn’t mean to start anything.”

“Don’t worry. They do that all the time.”

His eyes widened with horror and I nearly laughed at his expression but thought laughing at him might offend him, so I managed to swallow it down. A breath later, the second toddler began to cry.

“Let me just get these in some water, and we can go,” I said quickly, ready to get him out of here before he deserted me because of my crazy family.

He turned his ear my way. “What?”

I held up the flowers and said a little louder, “Water.”

“Oh! I can do that,” he offered, stepping forward.

But I held up a hand. “It’s no problem.”

He stopped and nodded, so I hurried from the room. When I returned, Issa and Gracen were both still crying somewhere down the hall.

“Time to escape,” I announced, causing him to smile in relief.