cupped her face in both hands, and they gazed into each other’s eyes, both half smiling, for long moments. She closed her own briefly when he traced the line of her brows with his thumbs and ran one of them along the length of her nose, and opened them again when he feathered both thumbs along her lips, pausing at the outer corners. Her fingertips came to rest lightly against his wrists. He smiled more fully at her, drew breath to speak, changed his mind, and then spoke anyway.
"Pearl, I'm going to kiss you on your lips." He told her.
Her eyes flew open just then, "I'm not going to let you kiss me, Derek." She replied.
"Why the hell not?" Frustration had him dragging his free hand through his hair. "You're here and I'm here, and you can't honestly deny that certain something between u
