Sweet Imperfection Read Online Free Page B

last, slipping his arms around her waist, parting his mouth a little, increasing the pressure, lost in the scent of her hair, her minty breath, her bow mouth tender and sweet and, as she opened it to him, also incredibly sexy.
    He thought he’d be ready for the wave of lust that slammed into him like a late-braking taxi, but his knees literally went weak the longer he held the connection with Emma. He wasn’t prepared for the force of his need for her, and he wasn’t prepared for the feeling that this was all natural, all predestined in some way. He really wasn’t ready for her to pull back from him, to break the kiss before he’d had nearly enough of her. He might have stumbled a little to regain his footing after she stepped out of his embrace, but she was glassy-eyed and flushed and didn’t seem to notice.
    “So do you want to come test out the mattress pad?” he said, wincing a little at the lame invitation and how flip he sounded.
    She smiled and brushed her hair away from her face in a gesture he’d seen a thousand times and now found the most improbably sexy thing in the world. “You know, I think I’m going to have to take your word for it. But, thanks.” She closed her mouth and then opened it again as if she were going to say something else. Nate didn’t want to hear any more.
    “Of course,” he found himself saying. “Sure.” He was eighteen again, asking Elaine Kozlowski to prom and getting kindly rejected.
    “I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Everything she said made it worse, so he leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Goodnight, Emma.” The door to his building was blessedly held open with a cinderblock, so he didn’t have to mess with figuring out the keypad entry system. If he were more of a gentleman, he’d walk her the twenty yards to her building, but he was too busy berating himself. He obviously wasn’t a gentleman, or he wouldn’t have propositioned his friend after one kiss. Of course she didn’t want to go upstairs with him. Why should she? That kiss had meant more to him than the possibility of a quick lay. The way he responded to her, the way he’d thought she responded to him, made him want more than one night of sex. Maybe they had a future together, more than friends, more than a one-night stand. He should have thought of that instead of making a stupid joke. He’d likely blown it with Emma forever. Still, he couldn’t regret the kiss. If that was all there was, he could at least say he knew what it was like to kiss Emma Chen-Delvaux. Spectacular.

 
     
     
Chapter Three
     
     
    Emma was half relieved, half chagrined when Nate abruptly ended their unexpected interlude. His departure saved her from more embarrassing rationalizations. She walked slowly next door to Ashworth 10.
    It had been ages since she’d had a proper first kiss. When Nate had taken her into his arms and kissed her, it had been more than a tentative kiss between longtime friends. It was the best first kiss in history: soft, sweet, subtle, leaving her wanting so much more.
    She’d said no, but not because she hadn’t wanted to take the kiss to the next level and see what happened. She had wanted that very much. She’d said no because she had a feeling that everything with Nate, from first kiss to last, would be the best, and that was so overwhelming to contemplate she hadn’t been able to go there.
    She couldn’t help it that her lips still tingled with the sensation of his mouth on hers or that her heartbeat felt fluttery and irregular.
    The kiss had been great, but it hadn’t meant anything. He was as lonely as she was, and back on campus, nostalgia would, of course, lead him to seek companionship with a friend. If they were going to stay friends or become lovers, they would have to take this slow.
    Slow. Yeah, right, that’s why her brain was sluggish and her sex heavy with an aching want as she climbed the two flights of stairs to her temporary dorm room. She hadn’t