What was happening?
Miles turned to face me, trying to hide his smile. “Better give the people what they want, Celery Stick.”
Fine.
FINE. They were right. It wouldn’t hurt anything. The effect of a kiss was all in our heads, blown up by the romantic comedies of the world. An actual kiss was just one mouth pressed against another mouth. Kind of gross, actually. But really no big deal. I could put my mouth on Miles Taylor’s mouth and just be done with it. You know what was difficult to wrapmybrain around? That I was being forced into this position. That Miles was actually HERE right now. I was going to kill Millie.
I turned to face Miles. “Alright, let’s do this.”
His lips broke into a smile. “So romantic,” he murmured.
“Shut up,” I whispered just before I grabbed the collar of his flannel shirt, pulled him down to where I could reach, and pressed my mouth against his. I hadn’t realized how cold my lips were until they were touching his. How were men always so warm? The attractive pine and spice smell of his cologne immediately tried to weaken me, but I remained strong, like an immovable oak. As far as kisses went, it was what I imagined giving a grandparent a peck on the lips would feel like. Our lips were slightly puckered, but I refused to open my mouth any more, so we just stood there with our mouths pressed together for as long as I could stand. I pulled away and tucked the hair behind my ear, wondering why my heart was pounding. It couldn’t have been fromthatkiss.
I cleared my throat and turned to face my executioners. “There you go.”
“Wow,” was all Chloe could say.
“Huh,” Mom said.
We all stood there in a semi-awkward silence for a few moments before my mom put us out of our misery. “Well, Olive, you’re still in trouble for keeping him from us,”
I wrinkled my nose playfully. “I’m sorry. I wanted to be sure he wasn’t a dud before I told everyone.”
Miles chuckled appreciatively, his arm snaking around my waist once more.
Suddenly, Chloe bent over, resting her hands on her knees, and took a deep breath. Her face had grown even more pale since we’d been standing here.
“You okay, Chlo?” I asked.
Another breath. “Yeah. Just nausea.”
“We have a general store here with over-the-counter medicines. I can go grab you something if you need it,” Miles offered. I looked at him in surprise, but his eyes were on Chloe.
“We have some at the cabin.” She smiled at him gratefully. “But thank you.”
“So, is this the guy I’ve been hearing so much about the past…five minutes?” Russ’s booming voice broke into our group. We turned to see him and Ben walking toward us, each holding a twin in their arms.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as my shoulders sank in defeat. This freaking foyer was busier than a subway.
Miles leaned forward, shaking Russ’s hand. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m Miles.”
“Russ Ellis. Has anybody ever told you that you look like a young Bradley Cooper?”
“Right? I thought the same thing,” Ben chirped from behind my mom.
A grin split across Miles’s entire face. “I have heard that a time or two.” The hand that was around my waist dug into my side, tickling me. I tried to casually get out from his grip, but he held me firmly.
“How’d you come to be here?” He eyed us curiously. He must have missed Chloe’s explanation.
Mom stepped in, looking at me. “Miles’s family owns the entire lodge. I still find it crazy that you were able to keep this secret that long.”
“He loves a good joke.” I looked up at him and patted his cheek, maybe a smidge too hard.
Mom squeezed my arm. “Well, we’re going to get Chloe home.” Looking at us, she said, “Good night, you two. I can’t wait to chat more with you, Miles.”
“Looking forward to it,” he replied. We said our goodbyes, and they all turned to go. To me, he whispered, “Should I call her Mom?”
I elbowed his stomach. “Why does it seem like you’re overly thrilled about this?”