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“Yes.”

I turn my face and kiss him again.

For a few more seconds, he kisses me back hard enough that I think he has made the same decision I have.

Then his whole body goes still.

His hands close around my upper arms and put space between us.

“What are you doing?”

“Stopping.”

I stare at him. My body is still throbbing with everything we were doing a few seconds ago, and the low resonance inside him is strong enough to feel across the small distance between us.

“Laura, you know I want you.”

“I do.” I’m still trying to catch my breath. “That’s why I don’t understand why you’re stopping.”

“Because wanting you was never the problem.”

The words cut cleanly through the heat.

“This isn’t the same thing as before. I didn’t come here to ask you for sex.”

“I believe you.”

I look at him. “Then what are we doing?”

Kell watches me for a moment. “Why did you come?”

“Because I miss you.”

His attention sharpens.

“I miss arguing with you and laughing with you. I miss hearing you in the next room. I miss coming home and knowing you’ll be there.”

“I miss you too.”

For one reckless second, that sounds like enough.

“I want you back, Kell.”

Kell goes very still.

The words feel good as soon as I say them. Certain. Simple. I almost step toward him.

Then he asks, “Back where?”

I stop.

“What?”

“Back in your house?”

I open my mouth.

“Back in your bed?”