“At the gala,” Parker clarifies when I don’t answer. “Like in front of the cameras. Or is that corny?”

I bring my body back her way, my knee pressing into her bare thigh peeking through the slit of her dress. “Do you want me to kiss you at the gala?”

Our brief conversation the other night about boundaries didn’t include this subject, which was either a mistake or a genius move on my part.

“It would look good, I guess. But only if it comes naturally. Maybe we should practice.”

“You can’t practice natural. You either are or you aren’t. And besides”—I narrow my eyes as I slide over—“do I look like the guy who needs to practice kissing his fiancée?”

Parker’s bare shoulders begin to rise and fall quickly.

“Putting too much pressure on this is going to make it as unnatural as possible. We’ll improvise, and it’ll be fine. You’ll be less nervous not seeing it coming.”

For me, it’s not about nerves, but I tell her that anyway even though the truth is I don’t want to share our first kiss with the world. I want that moment to myself.

Parker clears her throat “You’re right.”

I rotate my body toward the door for only a second before I swing back in her direction, finding her fumbling to close the small purse sitting in her lap. I tuck a finger beneath her chin to direct her face back to mine. I only get to enjoy the shock on her features for the briefest second before I close the space between us.

I know it’s going to come across to Parker as improvising. But the truth is, I’ve been rehearsing my role in this scene for as long as I can remember.

For as long, maybe, as there’s been her, there’s been a wild fantasy about the pillowy lips I claim with my own. There’s been wondering about the sweetness of her breath and what it’s like to be this close. And there’s been constant wonder about how it would feel for Parker to kiss me back once she’s made it on the other side of the shock and awe, which she does after a handful of my racing heartbeats.

And it’s better than anything I could’ve dreamed up.

She feeds the softest, sweetest, surprised sigh into my mouth as she leans into the kiss, and I don’t want to back away. I want to live in this moment where I’m not afraid to slip my hand to the small of her back. I want to savor the feel of her flexing her fingers that landed on my chest, to remember the soft contours and movements of her jaw in my palm.