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it,” Belle said with a laugh. The jealousy had dissipated from her voice entirely now. This had just become another of my silly mistakes, but that didn’t mean she was going to let it go. Instead, she started in on a series of questions, barraging me with each new one so quickly that I could hardly keep up with her, especially with the dizziness permeating my head over the revelation.
    Until one question filtered through the haze. “Was he an amazing kisser?”
    “Yes,” I said without hesitation, recalling his strong and powerful arms around me. “He was in total control, which makes sense now.”
    “More!” Belle cried mock-orgasmically.
    “Down girl,” I said, but I couldn’t help myself. The kiss had been my delicious secret before, but now…it was more. It was confusing and exhilarating and terrifying—hot as hell, of course—but I needed Belle to help me filter through my feelings.
    “All I could think when he kissed me was that I wanted him on top of me,” I continued.
    “Oh my god,” Belle moaned. “Are you going to see him again?”
    A thrill shivered through me at the thought, but I pushed it away. “I doubt it! He only kissed me to avoid an ex-girlfriend.”
    Belle’s mouth twisted into a smirk and she waved the front page at me. “He looks like he’s enjoying it, and I know you enjoyed it.”
    I stuck my tongue out and hopped off the stool. Belle’s one-track mind wasn’t helping me understand my feelings at all. She had my back, but I wasn’t sure she could keep from pushing me on him if she ever got the chance.
    Thankfully, Belle took my cue and began unpacking dishes to the cupboards.
    “Your mobile is ringing,” Belle called from the hallway as she carried a mislabeled box to her room.
    I froze when I saw the caller ID, immediately silencing the phone. Realization crept through me, washing away the arousal I’d felt as I relived the kiss for Belle and replaced it with the grim awareness that more than reporters knew about this now. By tomorrow everyone I’d ever met would know. The butterflies in my stomach evolved into a swarm of angry bees. I didn’t like attention. It wasn’t good for me. It wasn’t…healthy. Would they all start calling me? Texting me? After considering that I was about to be deluged by friends and family, I set my phone to vibrate.
    Belle peeked into the kitchen. “Who was it?”
    “My mom,” I answered with a groan.
    “Oh Christ, she’s probably planning the wedding.”
    “You’re right. I should call her back and set things straight.” But I couldn’t convince myself to do it. Instead, I knocked my head against the wall a few times.
    “Whatever you do, don’t bludgeon yourself to death. Most girls would kill to snog Alexander, not kill themselves for getting to.”
    I stopped and stared at her. Most girls would, but was I most girls? Alexander must have thought so. Just another girl to use and throw away. Of course, kissing a girl to piss off your ex made sense to a guy like that, but now I was the one dealing with the fallout! He’d thrown my world majorly off-course for the last week, leaving me hot and bothered and curious, and now I had to clean up the mess.
    And how the hell had they tracked me down anyway? It sounded like Alexander left a trail of women in his wake. Why had they focused on me?
    “You know what I still can’t figure out? How the reporters discovered who I was. Consider the paparazzi karmic retribution for the privilege,” I retorted.
    “That’s some SIS shit for sure,” Belle agreed. “Someone must have seen you and recognized you. Probably whoever took that photo.”
    “If I know them, they better hope I never figure out who they are,” I said. Dropping my silenced phone back onto the counter, I grabbed a box. My mother and everyone else could wait until I’d gathered my thoughts on this matter a little bit more.
    “Back to work?” Belle asked.
    I nodded. Maybe continuing to sort out my new life in London