Page 54 of Not Fooling Anyone

“What are you waiting for?”

“You’re tense. I can actually see how tense you are.”

I consciously relax my shoulders, but they bunch right back up. Damn it.

His expression softens. “If I can’t even touch you,” he says gently, “how am I supposed to kiss you in the lab?”

Ugh. Why does he have to be so logical? What happened to goofy, go with the flow Ethan? He would have been okay winging this.

“You let me touch you last week,” he whispers, the softness of his tone implying an intimacy I don’t want to be reminded of.

“That was different.” I was freaked out. Could barely process anything.

He lets out a sigh. “I was afraid it might be like this. Maybe we should drop out of the study if you’re that uncomfortable.”

“No.” I need the money. “We can do it.Ican do it.”

“There’s no shame—”

I reach up on my tiptoes, squeezing my eyes shut as I crush my lips to his. See, I can do this. It’s not like kissing Cody. Ethan won’t do anything to me.

Even so, I’m still trembling as I break away, my stomach doing cartwheels. Opening my eyes, I expect to find him grinning at me, impressed, but his face remains impassive.

“Mashing your mouth against mine for five seconds isn’t a kiss,” he says. “There’s no way they’ll believe that.”

My shoulders drop, defeated. He’s stupidly right. “What did you have in mind, then?” Seriously, what else am I supposed to do?

“You have to relax. Trust me. And follow my lead.”

I nod, figuring I have nothing left to lose at this point. We’re due upstairs any minute.

His hand returns to the nape of my neck, gently massaging until the tension melts away, the same as he did last week. Did he take a class to learn how to do that or something?

He leans down, stopping before he reaches me, our breaths mingling. His is fresh and minty. Mine probably smells like the pb&j I scarfed down earlier after class.

“Trust me,” he whispers, tilting my face up, his lips featherlight as they make contact with mine.

Whoa. That’s new. And not… unpleasant.

My eyes drift shut, body still as his mouth moves over mine, silently coaxing. Patiently encouraging. Wordlessly persuading. But for what, I’m not sure.

His slight hold on me never tightens, allowing me to slip away anytime I want. I’m in control, no expectations to reciprocate.

Cody’s kisses weren’t like this. I didn’t know it could be this way. A gentle exploration. A soft meeting of two mouths. No domination. No conquering.

I find myself reacting, returning his kiss, the barely-there noise he makes in response making my belly dip low.

I step back, surprised at my body’s betrayal. This isn’t something to enjoy. It’s supposed to be something to get through, to endure.

His gaze searches mine, but I have no idea what he sees, other than confusion.

What kind of kiss was that?

“You ready now?”

I nod, not sure what to say, and follow him in, still caught up in a moment that wasn’t even anything.

He waves to Christian and Amber as we reach the lab, but there’s no time to speak to them as Justin informs them they’ll be joining him for an fMRI test and leads them out of the room.

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