I think I’m following along. “You were planning on asking me out in the spring?”

“Well, I was before you did that!” She waves toward the sink, her hands fluttering and frantic like her words.

Cautiously, I approach her. This moment seems tenuous and important. Still, I can’t help grinning like an idiot. “Sorry. Next time, you’ll have to let me know about the schedule.”

She rolls her eyes. I empathize with her juicy bottom lip, pinched hard between her worried teeth. We stand, only a foot apart, silently staring at each other until I can’t take it anymore.

“What are you thinking?”

She huffs out a breath and drops her gaze to her feet, which are covered in a pair of fluffy green socks. “I like you, but I’m worried about the exchange. For us, there’s more than a friendship at risk.”

My heart clenches. “Holly, do you think, if things don’t work out between us, that I’d tell Fred not to give Marcus his kidney?”

Her grimace is telling. “When you say it out loud, it sounds cruel. But people can be cruel sometimes. A lot of times.”

I reach out, brushing my fingers under her chin until she raises her head. “Do you think I’m cruel like that?”

Concentration furrows her brows and puckers her lips. Someone else might have wanted an immediate denial. But that would have rung false from Holly. Clearly, she’s considering my question, so I know her answer will matter more.

“No. That just doesn’t fit you.” She gives me a tentative smile.

I beat back the excitement that threatens to spill over. She still hasn’t agreed.

“Okay, so we don’t have to worry about that. Anything else?”

A flash of some emotion flits across her face, there and gone too fast for me to identify it. Instead of answering my question, she leans closer, lifting her hand. Just at the point where I can feel the warmth of her skin, Holly pauses, watching me.

“So, more means, I can touch you?” she whispers, filling the heavy air between us with her hushed words.

My swallow is audible. If I open my mouth, I know I’ll beg her to, so I keep to a silent nod.

With that permission, she rests her palm against my cheek. My face heats under the contact, and like a plant seeking the sun, I lean into her. I watch a light spark in her eyes as she runs her nails down my jawline, scratching the beginning growth of my beard, and then moves back up to finger-comb my hair.

A low humming sounds in her throat, and her eyelids sink until I can only make out half of her dilated pupils. Still, her hand moves. After finishing with my hair, she gently drags her thumb across my bottom lip.

I can’t help myself. With a quick flick, I taste her skin with my tongue as it passes.

Holly gasps, pulling away. Then, she giggles, the sound setting off an explosion of exhilaration in my rib cage.