Page 20 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

“Okay.” I turn the dial up another notch.

Dustin puts his hand over mine and guides the mixer around the edges of the bowl. “This way you’ll get all the potatoes.”

My skin comes alive with his touch. “Okay,” I repeat, not paying much attention to the potatoes anymore.

I’m pretty sure I got the mixing thing down, but Dustin doesn’t take his hand off mine. It’s making it hard for me to breathe. My insides are all fluttery, especially with how close Dustin’s cheek is to mine.

“It looks good,” he says in my ear.

I take it to mean we can stop beating the potatoes now, so I lift the mixer out of the bowl.

“No!” he shouts as potatoes fly everywhere. I quickly shove the mixer back into the bowl and turn it off, but the damage is already done. There’s at least one glop of potatoes on my cheek. Squint barks and runs to us, thinking this is another fun game.

Dustin laughs as he unplugs the mixer. “You’ve done it now.”

I turn to see Dustin with tiny potato spots all over his face and hair. I can’t help it, I bust out laughing. “You look like you’ve got potato chickenpox.”

He can’t keep a straight face. “You look like you’ve been through an apocalypse and contracted something terrible.”

I reach up and wipe a clump off his chin with my finger. He grabs my hand and licks the potatoes off. I laugh even harder. “Was that supposed to be sexy? Because you can’t be sexy with dots of mashed potatoes all over you.”

He chuckles as he shakes his head. “Not sexy, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Then, how about this?” He cradles my face with his hands, and electricity spreads through me. My knees wobble as he slowly comes closer to me. I have this insane thought that he’s about to kiss me, but at the last second, he changes trajectory. His lips come in contact with my cheek, and he licks the potato off my face. All kinds of sensations spread through me.

I can’t move as he challenges me with his gaze, his face still so close I can feel his breath on my lips. His blue eyes hold a question I’m not even willing to explore. Even though his actions were silly, the moment is anything but, and I have trouble taking in a breath. Time seems to slow as we stare at each other.

“Still not sexy?” he finally asks.

“No.” The word barely comes out.

“I don’t believe you,” he whispers.

The moment stretches and his gaze lands on my lips. He slowly moves toward me again, and I know this time he’s going to kiss me. I close my eyes, silently giving him permission and waiting for his lips to touch mine.

Squint barks and jumps on my leg, breaking my trance. My eyes fly open, and I pull away. I come back to my senses as my heart pounds out a staccato rhythm. I can’t kiss Dustin. What am I thinking?

I force a laugh. “Totally not sexy. You need to work on that, buddy.” I bump his arm with my fist, like we’re old college roommates.

He grins, but it doesn’t seem genuine. “Epic fail. Guess we’d better wash up.”

I glance around, now noticing all the splatters on the wall and counter. “And I’d better clean your kitchen.”

“There you go again, cleaning when the staff are perfectly capable.”

“The spots will just wipe off if I clean it now,” I say as I walk toward the bathroom. “If we wait, all those globs will dry and be terrible to get off.”

I close myself in the bathroom and grab a washcloth, my fingers shaking. I’d flirted with him, and he’d almost kissed me. I took in a deep breath, trying to control my emotions. I can’t let anything happen between Dustin and me. Not while I’m Jera.

I need Dustin’s help right now, but I have to stop my flirting. I need to remember I’m playing a part. I’m Jera. I’ve just broken up with Luke, and I can’t get into another relationship.

CHAPTER11

Iclean myself up, then I wipe all the dots of potatoes off the floor while trying to keep Squint from licking them. I wipe the walls as Dustin cuts the brisket. The potatoes have just come out of the oven, and everything smells divine. I resolve to buy a cookbook when I get home so I can eat better meals.

Dustin gets out a pot holder, and I grab it from him.

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