Nadine was too surprised to react and to respond to James kisses. Her eyes remained open while James pinned her body to the open fridge, his hands moving from her jaw, down to her neck, then further down to trace the length of her side, his fingers leaving a blazing hot trail down her skin, despite the coldness coming from the fridge. He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him questioningly.

"Nadine..." he whispered again, his eyes pleading with her to respond. He took both her hands and pulled her by the counter, closing the fridge as he did so.

"James, no. Why?" she shot at him.

"Why not?" he shot back, putting his hands on top of the counter on either side of her as he pinned his body against hers. His lips threatened to descend on hers once more and Nadine couldn't help but stare at those red luscious lips, lips she's kissed before but never offscreen. Lips that, if she were honest with herself, she's always wondered what would feel like kissing hers without boundaries. Sweet little pecks were all they ever really did, with a little blocking here and there to make it look like it's torrid. Now, she could stop wondering.

She almost sighed when his lips finally met hers again, slanting to taste her more. James reached up and tangled his fingers in her hair, cupping her head so he could angle the kiss better, and he didn't hesitate as his tongue explored her mouth going places they've never gone to before. He heard her sharp intake of breath. "Dammit, you're sweet..." he said softly and when he kissed her again, their tongues intertwined and a low growl came out of his throat.

Bret cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen and Nadine and James guiltily pulled apart.

"Just need our beers, man." He took the beers that were sitting on the counter forgotten, while Nadine fixed her hair, her heart beating wildly, not turning around to look at Bret.

James was also fixing his hair, but he made eye contact with Bret, who was grinning at him slyly.

Fuck off, James mouthed to Bret, then flipped him off when Nadine wasn't looking.

Nadine finally regained her composure and followed Bret back to the living room, leaving James staring at her retreating back, exasperated.

He wanted to call out to her, Hey where you going, we're not yet done here! but decided against it. Knowing Nadine - and he believes he knows her better than most - she would probably just laugh at him. He couldn't even explain yet why he did what he did. It just felt right at the moment.

James went back to the living room and found Nadine chatting with Lauren as if nothing happened. He could feel Bret's eyes following him as he sat down beside Nadine on the couch. He took a huge slug from his beer. He looked at Bret, who smirked at him. He glared. Bret held out his hands as if to say, what did I do?

His arm was resting on the back of the couch behind Nadine and as she slouched on the couch, her neck made contact with his arm. And she sort of leaned in, with her head on the crook of his shoulder, still talking to Lauren. James hand automatically reached out to start rubbing her shoulders. To be honest they've been in this position a million times before, but somehow, today was different, as James was fully conscious of what he was doing, half expecting Nadine to pull away.

She didn't want to pull away. Her mind was only half processing what Lauren was telling her about the guy she met earlier during the countdown party they went to and she smiled at all the right parts, but she was excruciatingly aware of how James' hand was rubbing up and down her shoulder. She dared to sneak a glance at James, and was pleasantly surprised to see that he was looking at her, a soft smile on his face.

He stopped rubbing and cupped her head and gave her a kiss at the side of her forehead. Lauren stopped talking then looked from James to Nadine and back to James, who were staring at each other as if wrapped in their own little world.

"Hey, what's going on here guys?"

The rest of the group turned to stare at the both of them. Both stopped what they were doing, James took his hands off Nadine and Nadine grabbed her beer and took a huge gulp.

"I have to go na," Nadine said, standing up after finishing her beer. James quickly stood up too.

"I'll take you to your car," he said, leading Nadine by the waist before she could protest.

Nadine said her goodbyes and went out to her car, James behind her.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay to drive?" he asked worriedly.

"Of course, James. Di naman ako lasing." she opened her door and turned around to look at James, leaning against the car. To her pleasant surprise, he leaned in to give her a quick smack on the lips.

Her emotions were in a turmoil, wondering what was up with him today with all the kisses. She got in her car, his hand guiding the top of her head so that it won't hit the ceiling.

She closed the door, started the engine and opened the window to say goodbye to James.

"I guess I'll see you later?" James said. Nadine just nodded. "Text me when you get home." Then he gave her another smack from inside her car. "Nakakarami ka na ha..." she muttered.

James laughed. "What? Go."

He stepped back and gestured for Nadine to leave. She looked back at him from the window, a soft smile playing on her face as she looked at him with her eyes bright and shining, right before she drove off.

And at that moment he knew.

He was in deep fucking shit.

A/N: Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thank you for reading!