Kiss Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

like that, Kaylie.  I just want you to know that.  When we broke up, you seemed fine, practically unaffected.  I didn’t like it because I thought it meant you hadn’t really cared all that much about me.  In fact you seemed almost cold whenever I came around with Kevin.  I just thought you were ready to move on.”
    Kaylie just stared at him, not sure what to think.  After a few moments, he slowly removed his hand from her mouth.
    “Do you think you can forgive me, Kaylie?” he asked.
    She stared up at him, feeling both bitterness and hope writhing inside her.  When she didn’t respond, he sighed.  “I am sorry, Kaylie.  I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    Kaylie nodded.  She could see that he meant it.  That was something she had always admired about Jake.  If he did something he regretted or that caused someone else pain, he would apologize; no bluster, no bullshit.
    “I can forgive you, Jake.”
    He smiled at her.  “Good.”
    His hands cupped her cheeks and he leaned in to brush his mouth lightly across hers.  Then the gentle contact grew into something more intense as Jake nipped her bottom lip until she opened her mouth for his tongue.  The kiss grew until it was almost out of control.
    Suddenly Kaylie realized what she was doing and pulled back.  When Jake made a move to follow her, she slapped her hands on his chest and pushed him away.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    Jake blinked.  “I was kissing you.  Why, would you rather be doing something else?”  He grinned wickedly as he said it.
    Kaylie rolled her eyes at his suggestive comment.  “No, I’d like you to go.  I’m glad we had this chat and settled things, but I’m hungry and my dinner is getting cold.”
    Jake’s eyes grew hard.  He pulled his hands away from her as though she burned him and he stepped back.
    “What?” he asked softly.
    Kaylie remembered that voice.  It meant that Jake was moments away from losing his formidable temper.  He was usually so easy going; it took a lot before he would get truly angry.  When he did though, watch out.  She tried to step away but remembered the counter was behind her just in time.  Instead she cleared her suddenly tight throat.
    “I’m pretty hungry Jake, and I’d like to sit down to eat my dinner.  While I’m glad you explained why you did what you did and we settled our differences, it’s been six years and we’ve both moved on.  It’ll be less awkward when we see each other at Kevin’s rehearsal dinner and wedding, but it doesn’t really change anything else.”
      His eyes narrowed to slits.  “It doesn’t change anything else?”
    Kaylie was beginning to get a little nervous.  This was a side of Jake she rarely saw through the years, the side that came out when he joined the Marines with her brother.
    “No.”  She squared her shoulders.  There was no way she would let him know he could intimidate her.  Long ago, Kaylie learned that lesson with big men.  You either stood up for yourself or they would run roughshod all over you.
    “You really mean that?” he asked.
    Kaylie nodded.  “Yes.  You asked me to forgive you, I did.  Now, we move on.  It’s been too many years, Jake.  We can’t go back to the way things were.  I don’t want to go back either.”
    He took several steps back, staring at her as if a third eye had popped up on her forehead.
    “You really have moved on, haven’t you?  Last night,” he paused, “last night, the things you said and the way you were acting, I thought maybe you still…” he stopped speaking and just looked at her, the same expression on his face Kaylie had seen twice in the last two days. 
    Kaylie bit her lip and proceeded to lie her ass off.  “Jake, I do care about you, but I have moved on.  I want to settle down and have a family but it won’t be with you.  That dream died six years ago.”
    Jake’s expression changed subtly and it was making her heart pound.  He looked determined,