Page 6 of Dopplebanger

“We’re taking the Camaro. I insist.”

“That’s probably the safer option, since my car’s been extra temperamental lately.” She glanced at the time and began gathering up our trash. I pushed out my chair and stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“I’ll get it.”

Touching her was a mistake—an amazing mistake I wanted to do again and again. Energy crackled in the air between us, and our gazes caught and held. Less than an hour together, and my resolve to do the right thing had crumbled. I could only imagine how many times I’d want to kiss her during thirteen-plus hours of traveling, not to mention the days we’d be in her hometown. Not just kiss her, either. Desire thrummed through me as I thought about pulling her close and getting my hands on her curves.

This is a bad idea. Abort, abort, abort!I quickly gathered everything and then returned to the table.

This was it. The moment I needed to break the news that the road trip we’d just planned needed to be a solo mission, but that I wished her the best and hoped she got to see everything she wanted to. She’d hate me and that’d suck, but the hatred would be aimed at Evan, and that… well, it didn’t make me feel anybetter. I understood all too well why he didn’t want to have to see her sad face when he broke the news.

How could I already care so much about how she felt?

And how could I already be experiencing such strong emotions for her?

Just do it.The Band-Aid method would’ve been easier if I’d done it the second I’d shown up, the way I should’ve. I cleared my throat, gearing up to let her down as easy as I could.

But then she put her hand on my biceps and pursed her lips together, looking at me like a problem she didn’t know how to solve. I had a feeling she solved most everything she put her mind to. “Can you hold still for a second?”

A strange request, but with her peering up at me with those big hazel eyes, she could ask me just about anything and I’d agree.

Her fingers wrapped tighter on my arm as she tipped onto her toes.Is she…? Oh, God, she’s moving in for a kiss.

Apparently I, like my brother, could also be a tool when it came to women, because instead of stopping her, I let her press her soft lips to mine. The reaction was instantaneous—heat flooding my veins, burning off the last of the hangover haze as every cell in my body went on high alert.

I wrapped my arm around her waist, fitting her tighter to me, and parted her lips with my tongue. Then I swept it inside, indulging in my first taste. I told myself it was also my last taste, which heightened the urgency to claim every inch of her mouth while I could.

She gasped, her chest rising against mine, and I drove my hand into her hair and angled her head so I could deepen the kiss and hold on to the amazing sensations rushing through me for a few seconds longer.

Minutes. Let’s make it minutes…

She wound her arms around my neck, closing the last inch of space between our bodies. If I didn’t need to breathe, I’d never let go, then it could still count as one kiss.

On second thought, who needed to breathe?

Not me, not with our mouths and tongues perfecting the way they moved against each other.

Her moan vibrated against my lips and I was about to lose the last remaining thread on my control. I reluctantly released her, and our ragged breaths filled the air between us.

She brought her fingertips up to that delicious bottom lip. “Wow. That was…” She blinked up at me. “What got into you this morning?”

You. And I want to get into you next.Whoa. That thought was way too far, and more proof that I’d taken this entire situation too far.

But what was I supposed to do now? Be likeP.S., you and I are over?

I couldn’t do that. Not when I was thinking that this was far from over.

This was just the beginning.

FOUR

I was trying to be cool, but everything inside of me remained a bit on the spinny side, and I couldn’t stop staring at my boyfriend. This morning I was seeing him in a whole new light, and now the idea that I might break up with him seemed ludicrous.

One, who’d dump someone who could kiss like that? Two, when the hell had he learned to kiss like that? And three, why hadn’t we been doing it that way over the past few months?

I bit my still-tingling lip and his gaze narrowed in on the motion. I should really say goodbye and get to work—my boss at Doc Lovejoy’s Vet Clinic and Grooming Center was cool, but she was also slightly freaking out about how she’d manage without me for the rest of the week, so I didn’t want to press my luck. “I better get going, or I’m gonna be late to work.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Evan put his hand on the small of my back as we started down the sidewalk, and butterflies swarmed my stomach. Strange how my mediocre feelings for him had flipped so drastically, the tiniest touches now sending my hormones into overdrive. He’d always been fun, but until this morning, I never realized he was so funny.

---