Page 46 of The Mayor and the Mystery Man

“That’s how most people are. Kissing gets engines revved up. I like kissing. I like luxuriating in the soft feel of someone. There’s a special kind of energy when two people kiss.”

“Every day, I learn something new about you.”

“I’m an enigma.”

An enigma wrapped in a nice body. I couldn’t stop looking at his lips, thinking about what kind of energy we could create.

“So how about it, bud?” he asked. “It’s go-time.”

Dusty leaned forward. He tilted his head to the right, probably because he was a lefty. He would show off his lefty hand smudge after a night in the library working on notes. A small smile flitted on my lips as I tilted my head to the left.

Our lips met for the briefest of seconds.

He pulled back. “Your eyes were open.”

“They were?”

“Keep them closed.”

“Even for Applefest?”

“Yes! You kiss with your eyes open?”

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t bump noses.”

Dusty shook his head, his lips just a bit wet from our contact. “Dude, never kiss with your eyes open. That’s like watching a movie with all the lights on.”

“Why are you being such a stickler?”

“Because kisses matter. That’s one of my quirks of being a romantic.”

“Even if this isn’t supposed to be romantic?”

Or was it? I was getting confused, tangling myself in excuses, anything to push away the abject thirst I had for my best friend.

“How did it feel for you?” My breath hitched in my throat, waiting for an answer.

“Good,” Dusty offered. “Let’s do it again.” He pointed at me. “Eyes closed.”

I steeled myself for round two. Awkwardness faded when I looked at Dusty, and I thought about how eagerly I wanted to be close to him. Before I could regret this fake relationship idea altogether, Dusty closed the space between us.

Our lips pressed together with no intention of coming loose. His warm breath coated my mouth. As if we were playing on instinct, things clicked together. I opened my mouth for his tongue to enter. It slid against mine, swept around my opening, sending sizzling chills throughout my body. The heat of his chest right up against mine made me melt into him. I slid my tongue between his soft lips hungrily, our breaths getting shorter and more urgent.

Dusty rested a hand against my cheek, and I wanted it to drift lower. My dam of need had exploded like a shoddily built levy.

And then it was over. Dusty pulled back again, this time taking all my oxygen with him. I couldn’t describe how I felt, but the look on Dusty’s face seemed to say it for me.

“Better?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah. I’m, uh, surprised you don’t like kissing. You’re good at it.” His cheeks clouded with red. “What did you think of my hand?” He mimicked the movement of it on my cheek, and I nearly swooned all over again.

“Good. Yeah, it was good.”

“Because I just went with it. That’s something I do.”

“No, yeah, I get it.” I hopped off the couch at lightning speed. If I spent any more time with Dusty, my resistance would evaporate, and I’d ruin this entire operation. Falling apart over an engineered kiss? That wasn’t me. I didn’t let emotions get the better of me. The only thing that kiss was supposed to do was bring me closer to re-election.

“The wine is kicking in, so I’m going to get to sleep. Night, Dusty.” I made an awkward gesture that was part-hug, part-hi five, part leg pat. I brought awkward back better than Justin Timberlake brought sexy back.

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