“Well, if we’re doing this by vote, then I guess it’s a good thing it’s a consensus with your committee.”
“Exactly.” See? He understood. This was excellent. “For the record, my committee thinks it’s a bad idea.”
He reached out and toyed with the end of her hair again. “Who, exactly, is on your committee?” She didn’t know many of his friends—they didn’t come around when they were in the same place. Mostly because those places were only with his family. “My parents.”
“That’s a really crappy committee.”
“Yeah, well, it’s what I’ve got.”
“Actually, your committee is the worst.” Her fingertip itched to reach out. Draw a line along his jaw. “You need a new committee.”
His gaze focused on her mouth, and the air between them practically crackled. She licked at her lips.
This did nothing to resolve the electric charge in the air. “When should I start accepting applications?” he asked, moving closer.
She barked a low laugh. She actually laughed.
This, whatever this was between them, felt so normal. Not forced. No arguing. They were talking, laughing, and she had a strange fascination with the way his lips moved.
“Okay,” he said, shifting, so he was in front of her, his mouth inches from hers.
“Okay,” she said, moving forward to fill the small bit of space remaining.
She drew a heavy breath. She could do this. This was not a huge deal. This was just a kiss.
Rachel stared at his lips. He stared at her lips. Neither of them closed the gap.
There was a lot of staring going on. Not an iota of moving.
Mostly, she couldn’t move because her muscles seemed to have turned to liquid, she was heating all through, and there were nerve endings firing. She couldn’t say why he wasn’t moving.
Finally, he traced the apple of her cheek with his thumb and started to close the last of the space between them. Her breaths came quicker, the flannel shirt rising and falling swiftly with each inhale and exhale.
God, she wanted him to unbutton the top button. All the buttons.
He didn’t, keeping his focus on her mouth. Which was also nice. He was going to kiss her, and given the way her body was reacting, it was going to be really, really nice. Except?—
“Wait,” she said, pressing her hand against his chest just as his mouth was less than a breath away from hers.
He paused.
She pulled away a fraction of an inch.
“This has to be totally mutual,” she said, gesturing between them. “We need to do it at the same time so it’s not like I kissed you or you kissed me. We just do it at the exact same time so it’s even.”
He rubbed the tip of his nose against hers and, oh, she should stop trying to dictate how this was going to go. “This is getting very complicated,” he drawled.
Red flag. Huge red flag. The wielding of the accent was something that should’ve made her pause.
Yet, in that moment? It made her want him only more. “Welcome to my life.” She adjusted herself, pushing forward and basically kneeling beside him on the sofa, so it’d be easier to accomplish the task. Uh-huh, she was practically in his lap. He did not seem to mind.
She definitely didn’t.
Her palm met his cheek, tracing the light stubble there. Everything in her turned on like she’d been in a holding pattern her entire life and had just been given clearance to land.
He moved to her, and she moved to him, and then their lips melded. Neither of them closed their eyes as their mouths met.
He moaned and deepened the kiss. She, uh, may have also moaned.
