The Bride Test(39)

He grabbed one of her hands. Hand-holding was good, right? But then she leaned toward him, and soon he was hugging her as she buried her face against his neck. The air rushed out of his lungs. She was in his arms, turning to him, trusting him, just like that time she’d had the nightmare.

It was terrifying. It was wonderful.

He didn’t know what to do other than hold her tighter. Students crossed the plaza. Birds chirped in the trees, and a soft breeze blew. Sunlight was warm against his face. She nuzzled closer, and the weight of her body pressed on him. He felt the impression of lips on his neck.

Did that count as a kiss?

She turned her face to the side and peered up at him through damp eyelashes, and he brushed the residual moisture on her cheek away with his thumb. So soft, so pretty. He stroked wet tendrils of hair back from her temples, and her lips parted.

In an instant, everything changed. The wind became velvet, and sound was the loudness of his heart and the rush of his blood. Colors brightened and danced. The green of her eyes, the yellow of her shirt, the blue of the summer sky, it all centered around the pink of her mouth.

He didn’t realize what he was doing until he saw his fingertips smooth over her bottom lip. What a sight to see his tanned skin against her pale face. Her eyes went luminous and dreamy, and when he ran his fingertip over her lip again, her mouth opened wider. He found himself leaning toward her, wanting, wanting, wanting, but he managed to stop before he broke all his rules.

“You can kiss me,” she said, her voice half whisper, half husky rasp. “Anytime you want, you can kiss me.”

Girl loves boy loves girl repeated in his head. He couldn’t love her, couldn’t make her any promises. He should stay away from her.

Eyes steady on his, she continued, “You can kiss me … and touch me … and not marry me. I just … want to be with you. Before I go.”

Her words sent clashing reactions through him. His stomach bottomed out at the idea of her leaving, but concurrently, tension drained from his muscles. She’d given permission and made it clear she had no expectations. Kissing her wasn’t connected to dating or a relationship or marriage or love. He could just kiss her because he wanted to.

He could kiss her.

His skin went hot, and he knew it was going to happen. He was going to kiss Esme. It was inevitable now.

He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek, and a shaky breath sighed between her lips. He had to taste them, had to know them.

Now.

Cradling her jaw in his hand, he leaned toward her.

“Esmeralda, it is you,” a loud voice interrupted in a thick Russian accent.

? ? ?

Oh no, that voice was familiar.

Esme jerked away from Kh?i with a start, and her heart dropped when her fears were confirmed. It was her. “Hi, Angelika.”

Kh?i looked from her to the tall blond Russian woman, and Esme broke out in a cold sweat. He was going to find out she was a big liar, and then he was going to look down on her more.

“I did not know you have a boyfriend,” Angelika said.

Kh?i didn’t correct Angelika. Maybe that meant something, but Esme didn’t have time to think about it. They needed to leave right away. Maybe if they were fast, Kh?i wouldn’t figure it out.

She jumped to her feet. “We need to go. Later, Angelika.” She wanted to grab Kh?i by the arm and drag him after her, but she was afraid of touching him the wrong way. After a moment’s hesitation, she limped off on her own, hoping he’d follow. Luckily, he did.

But instead of letting them leave in peace, Angelika tagged after them. “I am thinking of applying here if I pass the GED. But I do not know if I will pass. If you take the test, you will pass.” To Kh?i, she said, “Esmeralda is very smart. She gets As on all of her tests in class.”

Esme’s heart jumped and started beating so fast her vision blurred. Too late.

“You’re taking classes?” he asked. “At the adult school across from my mom’s restaurant?”

She nodded as she stared down at the ground, wishing she could melt into the cracks between the bricks. Now he knew she wasn’t Esme in Accounting. She was Esme who hadn’t even graduated high school.

Angelika took an uncomfortable step back. “I, um, I will see you later. Have a nice weekend. Nice meeting you.”

Esme waved, and Kh?i flashed his usual barely there smile at Angelika before focusing on Esme again.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Esme hurried to say, “We’re done now. We should go.”

As she limped back the way they’d come, she distracted herself by taking in as much of the campus as she could. Her dad had walked on these same bricks, breathed this same air, seen these same trees. This was probably the closest she’d ever get to him.

Kh?i caught up to her with easy strides of his long, uninjured legs. “We should go the other way.”

“The car is this way.” She pointed toward the parking lot.

“There’s another place we should try.”

She paused. “Another place?”

“The alumni building. They might be more helpful. I probably should have taken you there first. Do you need help getting there? It’s not far. It’s just over there.” He motioned in the other direction, toward a cluster of more modern buildings surrounded by old trees.

“I’ll walk. Let’s go.”