Page 47 of Fundamentals of Chemistry

His eyes dropped to my mouth and darkened. My breath caught in my chest as he took a step toward me. And then another. And then he was right in front of me, and he slipped a hand around the side of my neck, thumb resting at the corner of my jaw.

I tilted my head back as he lowered his mouth to mine, our lips meeting in a slow, sultry kiss.

Fireworks went off in my brain.

My keys clattered to the floor as they slipped out of my fingers. I wound my arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss.

He tasted even better than I imagined, sweet and smokey from the s’mores and spicy from the whiskey and ginger ale. It was intoxicating. I couldn’t get enough.

He seemed similarly entranced, stepping forward and pushing me back against my door. My soft curves molded against his chest and stomach until there was nothing between us but cotton and friction.

Meanwhile, our hands explored each other as if they had minds of their own. I mapped the hard planes of his shoulders and back through his soft henley. My flesh tingled and ached as he traced paths from my ribs to waist to hip and back again.

Desire roared through every synapse like a lightning storm. Whatever I was feeling had evolved well beyond a crush. What I should do was push him away. That’s what a rational person would do. But rational thought had no place in this hallway.

His mouth moved to my jaw, my ear, my neck, peppering the contours of my face with kisses. I couldn’t hold back my soft moans as he found sensitive places, triggering burst after burst of electric pleasure. My head tilted back against the wall, giving him better access to my throat, and he took full advantage before moving back to my mouth to swallow my wanton sounds.

Without warning, Cooper broke the kiss and dropped his forehead to mine while he caught his breath.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

What? No!

Maybe?

Of course making out like teenagers was a bad idea. But kissing him felt so good. I wasn’t ready to stop.

My hands moved to the sides of his face, holding him still so I could look into those dark eyes. His words said one thing, but his hungry gaze and fingers holding onto my hips hard enough to bruise said something else. I was not alone in my desire.

“Yeah, okay,” I panted, before adding, “one more minute though.”

I pulled his face back toward mine and pressed my lips to his again. For the briefest moment, I worried I had made a mistake. Then, he kissed me back with even more intensity than before.

He wanted this. There was no doubt in my mind. I had been crushing on this man for weeks, and he wanted me too. The reality of him was more than I ever imagined. I never wanted to stop.

Seconds stretched to minutes as I lost myself to the sensations again. I could have been happy kissing him all night.

“Please,” I breathed as my lips moved to his jaw. “Do you want to come inside?”

He pulled away again, this time holding me at arm’s length. His skin was flushed, lips wet and rosy. His chest was rising and falling in a perfect mirror of mine.

“I’m sorry,” he panted. “We shouldn’t.”

The words sank in, slowly and then all at once. I was wrong. He didn’t want me back. He was saying no.

“Oh,” I said. “Um… right. That’s fine. Sure.”

My eyes cast to the floor as I reached down to retrieve my keys. I didn’t look back while I turned the key in the lock, sure that my face was radiating mortification.

“I guess I’ll see you around,” I muttered as I closed the door.

I stood with my back pressed flat to the inside of my door until I heard Cooper go into his own apartment. And then I screamed into a pillow until my throat was as raw as my nerves.

Chapter 16

Failure

Itried not to think about Jack on Sunday.