Page 44 of The Kiss Class

Cara’s shoulders relax slightly and she remembers to breathe again.

Keeping eye contact, I can’t help but wonder if she ever sketches in color. There are shades in her hazel eyes that I don’t think could be replicated.

As our gazes hold, her blinking slows and time dissolves. The world stands still. It’s just us in this moment. We lose each other yet find something else and it’s bigger and more powerful than anything I’ve ever experienced, than I knew was possible.

All I can think is that this is the look of love.

Even without her touch, that heady rush flows through me.

“Next, hold up your hands.” I demonstrate like I’m going to give her a couple of high fives but position my arms so they’re opposite hers. “We’re going to see how close we can come without touching.”

“But when people kiss, they touch unless I have it all wrong.” The space between her eyebrows pinches.

“You did it very, very right. That was an A+ kiss, Cara.Thisis something else.” Something I didn’t realize until now. “Lesson one is about building trust. Intimacy. Being with someone in a more meaningful way.”

“How will decorating a tree and breathing together help me know how to kiss?”

“Think of them as the building blocks.”

She tucks her chin. “You mean to tell me that before you kissed all those women, you did this?” She tips her head from side to side toward our hands, mere inches away.

“I didn’t kiss as many women as you think, and no.”

“Then why arewedoing this?”

“In case you’re overthinking things.”

“How did you know my brain is always in fifth gear?”

“Because you’re notthem.”

She shrinks slightly, and I give my head the subtlest ofshakes while maintaining eye contact. “This is so when the real kiss comes, you’ll be present to the experience rather than caught in a net of questions. It’s much simpler than you might think.”

She nods slowly as if understanding. “Overthink. It’s what I do. Drawing helps me not . . . and maybe this new hobby.”

I can’t help but smile, and we both chuckle.

Taking an inhale, I return my focus to my breath, to holding Cara’s gaze, and to the heat building between our barely touching palms.

Like the good student she is, she follows my lead. After a minute or two, her breathing eases, her shoulders relax, and once again, she lifts her gaze to mine, this time steady, confident.

Her lips part, longing fills her eyes, and she lengthens her spine slightly.

Sensation builds inside me, tugging me in two directions as I engage in an inner conflict. It would be so easy, so wonderful, to kiss right here, right now. But I tell myself to resist. To wait until she’s truly ready because I’m following her lead, respecting her boundaries.

After a bit longer, I drop my hands. “That’s all for this lesson.”

“But we didn’t kiss.”

“You have your rules.”

Slouching, she puts on her coat and then goes still. A smile grows on my lips as her eyes widen with realization. Turning slowly, Cara asks, “Are you saying this was a date? A first date?”

“A happy accident-al date.” Sticking to her rules, I open my arms for a hug.

She hesitates and then moves in. Wrapping her arms around me, I draw her close, feeling the rise and fall of herchest against mine. She fits perfectly in my embrace, not too short and not too tall. Cara is just right in every way.

When we part, I drop my hands to her waist, unable to keep them off her as the head rush that I’ve only felt when we come in contact rocks through me fast and furious.

---