My A-Z theme for the month of April is romance and the modern, technology-driven cubicle dweller (like me).

I’m going to wimp out today and not subject visitors to a post about why kissing is romantic, and how that relates to the digital age. Instead, I’m going to post a novel snippet.

This is from Book 2 in my Bits & Bytes series (Book 1 – Conflict of Interest – will be available in less than three weeks).

The moment Riley was inside Zane kicked the door shut behind her. Pale green eyes raked over her face, something she had never seen before hiding behind the look, mingling with a strange uncertainty. His voice was low. Hesitant. “I have to tell you something.”

She clenched her jaw, not sure she wanted to hear it. But friends listened, right? “Okay?”

“I…” His brow furrowed and his hands clenched into fists. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then another, and another. His entire frame relaxed. He looked at her again, a clarity in his expression that hadn’t been there before. Resting his hands on either side of her face, he pressed his lips softly to hers.

The whimper she’d been trying to hold back escaped at the tender gesture. She closed her eyes and sank into the kiss, heart screaming through her rib cage. How had she never noticed before how incredible this was? His hands slid down her arms, raising goose bumps everywhere they passed over, and rested on her hips. His lips traced a slow line along her jaw to her neck. She tilted her head back, lost in the sensation.

Is the old song right? Is a kiss really just a kiss?