Page 59 of One Touch

“Well,” I whistled, running a hand through my tousled hair, “you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

I studied the piece of paper, which Lily had dramatically unfurled across the hood of my Ferrari. It contained an exhaustive list of all the things we absolutely must not do to ensure we didn’t succumb to the inevitable pull of true love.

“Elara helped,” Lily said, a mischievous glint in her sapphire eyes.

“Wait—Elara knows?”

“How am I meant to not tell my best friend that we kissed, Ethan? You told Cole, right?”

“Well, no.” I scratched my head.

“You didn’t? That’s a mistake. People in romance novels who try to keep things like this secret are 23 percent more likely to fall in love.”

“Seriously? You’ve done the math?”

She laughed, then flashed me a stupidly gorgeous smile. “I made it up. But it sounds about right, doesn’t it?”

I started to read through the list. “We must not get caught in the rain together. We must not exchange heated glances across a crowded room. We must not give meaningful or sentimental gifts.” I paused for a moment. I paused, a smirk playing on my lips. “Does that mean thoughtless gifts are okay?”

“Just keep reading, Mister Lawyer.”

“We must not share personal secrets or vulnerabilities. We must not slow dance with each other.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You realize this is a little strange, right? Wait, what’s this one—we must not nurse each other back to health during an illness or injury?”

“It’s very romantic to look after someone,” she said with a shrug that did interesting things to her silk blouse. “Sticking thermometers in private places. Wiping sweat from one another’s brow.” Her eyes darkened with desire, and I felt the temperature rise several degrees. “Putting our heads against one another’s bare chests to check for a heartbeat.”

I swallowed, my throat as dry as the Sahara, my heartdefinitelybeating. “We must not have a ‘trapped together’ scenario like being stuck in an elevator or car. We must not have a ‘fake dating’ or ‘pretend couple’ scenario. We must not have deep, meaningful conversations late at night. Especially not on the porch.”

Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I really am a genius.”

“We must not attend weddings or romantic events together as each other’s plus one. What about Elara and Cole’s wedding?”

“Easy—we just go separately and don’t talk to each other during the event.”

“What if we have to? What if there’s confusion about canapés and I have to ask you politely not to eat the final tiny taco?”

“I don’t think that counts as being each other’s plus one.”

“We must not have sex two days in a row. We must not message after sex, referencing the sex act. We must not have physically intimate, non-sexual moments like brushing hands or touching each other’s faces. Not even one touch.” The words “one touch” were underlined so aggressively the pen had nearly torn through the paper.

“Touching is very powerful,” she said, her breathing suddenly heavy, her chest rising and falling in a hypnotic rhythm.

“Is it?”

“Mmhmm. An innocent touch can lead to so much more.”

I forced my gaze back down at the sheet of paper. “We must not have extended eye contact or lingering glances. That’s a bit vague. What’s a lingering glance?”

“Longer than five seconds.”

I laughed. “Got it. I’ll mentally count to five every time I look at you from now on.” I got back to the list.

“We must not have any misunderstandings that could be cleared up with a simple conversation. We must not dramatically run to declare our love at an airport, train station, or under someone’s window with a boombox.”

“Classic,” Lily murmured.

“We must not share an unexpected kiss during an argument. We must not have a karaoke scene where one of us dedicates a romantic song to the other. We must not go on any road trips together or share a vacation home. We must not have an "only one bed" situation at any point.”

Lily’s cheeks flushed slightly. “That last one is crucial. Nothing says ‘inevitable romance’ like an unexpected bedsharing scenario. And by the way, no sleeping in the same bed either. Sex, yes. Sleeping, no.”

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