Page 26 of About that Fling
Adam nodded, struggling a little to remember his lines. “And this is where I summarize. What I hear you saying is that you like when I hold eye contact because it makes you feel listened to, understood, noticed, and appreciated. Did I get it all?”
“No.”
“No?”
She bit her lip, and Adam had the sense she was about to say something a little outside her comfort zone. The thought of it thrilled him, and so did the next words out of her mouth.
“It also makes me feel a little turned on.” She smiled. “If I’m being honest.”
Adam swallowed, fighting to keep his head in the game. “Honesty is good.” His voice cracked on the last syllable, and Jenna smiled and leaned closer.
“I picture you undressing me with your eyes, and it makes me want to take my clothes off.”
“Okay,” Adam breathed, aching to claim her mouth with his. “Now it’s my job to validate you by saying something like, ‘what you say makes sense, and I understand that feeling listened to, understood, noticed, and appreciated is important to you.’”
“And turned on,” she repeated, emboldened now. “Don’t forget that.”
God, how she looked at him. Fire licked through him, hungry and hot. “I couldn’t possibly forget.”
Her face hovered inches away, a cue Adam couldn’t miss if he wanted to.
He didn’t want to. He wanted to kiss her, touch her, taste her?—
“So what comes next?” she murmured.
“In the Imago Dialogue?”
“Sure.”
“Um—something about empathy or accuracy-checking or some shit like that. Dammit, Jenna.”
His mouth claimed hers in an instant, kissing her hard despite the buzz in the back of his brain that told him it was a bad idea to let his libido make decisions for the rest of him. Why was that again?
His fingers tangled in her hair and she gave a soft moan against his mouth. Adam’s brain dissolved into mush as his tongue brushed hers. His hand slid down the side of her neck, tracing the soft, warm hollow as he moved down to the curve of her shoulder. Somehow the side of his palm grazed the top of her breast, and she whimpered against him.
Jenna moved onto her knees, her whole body leaning into the kiss. She caressed the back of his neck and he realized absurdly he still gripped the saltshaker. He couldn’t think of a good way to put it down. Couldn’t think of anything, really, except how good it felt to kiss her like this, in spite of everything in him that said it was a bad choice.
Real love is a decision, not a feeling.
The words buzzed in the back of his brain, and he tried to remember which part of his training they’d come from or why they’d chosen that moment to resurface in his mind.
Don’t think. Just feel.
Something clicked behind them and in the distance he heard a gasp.
“Jenna? What the hell?”
Chapter 5
Jenna jumped at the sound of Mia’s voice, her teeth clacking against Adam’s as she jerked back.
“Ouch.”
From the corner of her eye, Jenna saw him raise a hand to his lower lip, but she was already on her feet and blinking against the glare as her best friend strode toward them in the sunlight.
Jenna swallowed and folded her hands in front of her. “Mia! What a surprise.”
She hoped her voice didn’t sound as guilty as it did in her head. What had Mia seen? It was possible the rooftop glare provided enough cover, but equally possible they were busted.
