When It's Love by Bella Andre, Lucy Kevin Page B

insisted, his hand moving up to touch her hair. “Because there already is.”
    He didn’t pause this time, didn’t wait for her to be ready for him to make a move as he leaned in and kissed her with more passion than Rachel had ever imagined. His lips met hers like a wave meeting the beach, and like a wave would, the sensation washed over her.
    She kissed him back on instinct, unable to stop herself, just the way she’d been unable to keep herself from wanting to climb the cliffs. She thought she could taste the sea on Nicholas’ lips as she kissed him—and it thrilled her that she could taste the danger and adventure in him, too. She held tightly to him as she kissed him breathlessly, wanting—and needing—so much more than she ever had before.
    She’d marshaled her thoughts so carefully before coming to see him this morning. She’d worked out exactly what she would say. But she had never expected anything like this, for all of her carefully considered reasons to fade away like the mist, torn apart by the pure, sweet sensation of a kiss. All she could feel was hands tangled in her hair, the rapid-fire pace of her heart beating in her chest...and a desire so intense it stunned her.
    When they finally pulled apart, Rachel's head was buzzing with even more than the adrenaline rush she'd felt at the top of the cliff. There was nothing safe about kissing Nicholas. And certainly nothing sensible about it.
    Yet now that they’d kissed, she felt more alive than she ever had before.
    “Rachel?” Nicholas reached out to touch her cheek, and for a moment, just a moment, she thought he might be about to kiss her again. Instead, he softly said, “All the risk assessments in the world can't tell us anything about our connection right now. And they can't tell what’s in our hearts, which is all that really matters. Don't you think it’s okay to take a risk now and then, especially if that risk has a chance to make you truly happy?”
    And the truth was that with his kiss still tingling on her lips, it was almost possible to believe that what they felt, what they wanted, counted for more than the rest of the world with all its disasters and dangers.
    “Come back and do another segment with me tomorrow.”
    Nearly as tempted by that as she'd been by his kiss, instead of outright saying no the way she knew she should, she said, “Haven't they found anyone else they can talk into doing death-defying stunts alongside you?”
    “There isn't anyone who has the same chemistry with me.”
    “You could work with anyone and make them look good.”
    “Not as good as you look,” Nicholas assured her.
    Rachel couldn't keep from blushing at hearing that, even though she wasn’t a teenager anymore who would be so easily unnerved by a compliment.
    “And trust me,” Nicholas said with one of those gorgeous, warm smiles of his, “there isn’t anyone else that I have the same chemistry with.”
    Maybe it was the kiss that had spun her around and around so that she couldn't think straight anymore, but instead of finally saying no, she asked, “What will you be filming tomorrow?”
    “Kiteboarding.”
    “I've never done that before.” But she'd wanted to.
    “Good. I love watching you discover something new. So, would you like to come down and try it? Or,” he added with a wicked lift of his eyebrows, “does it not fit into that safe statistical model you have of the world?”
    Despite the fact that she knew he was teasing her, she had to know, “Are you calling me a coward?”
    “You're one of the strongest, bravest women I've ever met.” He moved closer again, close enough that his lips were almost against hers as he said, “And I can't wait to go kiteboarding with you tomorrow.”
    One quick but oh-so-sweet kiss later, she was left standing alone in the middle of her grandmother’s lawn, able to think about nothing but kiteboarding, Nicholas and two kisses that had somehow felt more adventurous—and wonderful—than