Below Zero (The STEMinist Novellas #3) by Ali Hazelwood

            “Just . . .” He swallows again. “I . . . Women like you don’t usually . . .”

            “Women like me.” Wow. Sounds like I’ll actually have to slap him. “What’s that? Because—”

            “Beautiful. You are very, very beautiful. Probably the most . . . And you’re obviously smart and funny, so . . .” He gives me a helpless look, suddenly looking less like a genius NASA team leader built like a cedar tree and more . . . boyish. Young. “Is this some kind of joke?”

            I study him through squinting eyes, revising my earlier assessment. Perhaps my conclusions were premature, and it’s not quite correct that no one can be this clueless. Perhaps someone can.

            Ian, for instance. Ian, who could probably make good money as a stock-photo model, tags: Hot Guy, Ginger, Massive. I saw about four people check him out on our way here, but he apparently has no idea that he could be fancast to play the hot Weasley brother. Absolutely zero awareness of how glorious he is.

            I grin, suddenly charmed. “Can I ask you a question?” I roll myself closer, and I’m not sure when that happened, but he angled his chair so that my knees end up slotted between his. Nice. “It’s a bit forward.”

            He looks down at our touching legs and nods. As usual, only once.

            “Can I kiss you? Like, right now?”

            “I . . .” He stares. Then blinks. Then mouths something that’s not a word.

            My grin widens. “That’s not no, is it?”

            “No.” He shakes his head. His eyes are fixed on my lips, the black of his pupils swallowing the blue. “It’s not.”

            “Okay, then.”

            It’s pretty simple, standing from my chair and leaning forward on his. My palms find the armrests and press against them, and for a long moment I stay right there, caging this bear-size man who could flick me away with his little finger but doesn’t. Instead he looks up at me like I’m wondrous and beautiful and awe-inspiring, like I’m a gift, like he’s a bit dumbstruck.

            Like he really wants me to kiss him. So I close that last inch and I do. And it’s . . .

            Kind of awkward, to be honest. Not bad. Just a little hesitant. His lips part in a gasp when they touch mine, and for a split second, a terrifying thought occurs to me.

            It’s his first kiss. Is it? Oh my God, it’s his first kiss. Am I really giving someone their first—

            Ian angles his head, pushes his mouth against mine, and it destroys my train of thought. I’m not sure how he manages, but whatever he’s doing with his lips and teeth feels massively, aggressively right. I whimper when his tongue meets mine. He growls in response, something rumbly and deep in his throat.

            Okay. This is no first kiss. This is a fucking masterpiece.

            He’s probably two hundred pounds of muscles and I have no clue whether the chair can hold us both, but I decide to live dangerously: I straddle Ian’s lap, feeling his sharp inhale vibrate through my body. For a suspended second our lips part and his eyes hold mine, like we’re both waiting for every piece of furniture in the room to collapse. But JPL must be investing in sturdy decor.

            “That was high-risk, high-reward,” I say, and I’m surprised at how short my breath is already. The room is silent, bathed in warm light. I let out a single, shaky laugh, and I realize where Ian’s hand is: hovering half an inch above my waist. Warm. Eager. Ready to snap.

            “Can I—?” he asks.

            “Yes.” I laugh into his mouth. “You can touch me. It’s the whole point of—”

            I don’t get to finish, because the second he has permission his hands are everywhere, one on my nape, pulling my lips into his, the other on the small of my back. The moment my chest presses against his, he does another of those low, rough sounds—but ten times deeper, like it comes from his very core. He’s all scratchy stubble, warm unwieldy flesh, and in the corner of my eyes I see only red, red, so much red.

            “I’m in love with your freckles,” I say, right before nipping at one on his jaw. “I thought about licking them the moment I saw you.” I make my way to the hollow of his ear. He exhales, sharp.