I
finished my meal and put the empty plate on the coffee table without making eye
contact with Finn. It was show time.
“Mint?”
I offered him the opened end of the packet from my pocket.
“Thanks.”
He took one, not making eye contact either. I popped a mint in my mouth,
ignoring how my hand trembled a little as I did it.
What
else had I meant to do? Lip gloss! I felt around in my pocket and came out with
the tube of apple-berry flavored gloss.
“Ready
when you are.” I hoped I sounded confident, but as soon as the words were out
of my mouth, second thoughts bombarded me. This really was a stupid plan.
Butterflies started flailing around in my stomach. Besides my family, my friendship
with Finn was the most precious thing in my life. Would this mess with that?
And
he didn’t seem as sure as he had last night either. Perhaps it had been the
mojitos talking…
“Come
on,” he said and headed for the front door. His dark hair was rumpled in the
adorable way that happened after he’d been working on his thesis all day, and
his jeans and T-shirt were just as crushed. He was so familiar and dear it hurt
inside.
I
even knew without checking that his pale blue T-shirt matched all the other
pale blue T-shirts and polo shirts in his wardrobe. Finn wasn’t a man to waste
time choosing clothes—either in the store or in the mornings—so most days he
wore the same color shirt and either jeans, shorts or trousers, and desert
boots. It was exasperating and adorable in equal measures.
When
we reached the spot by the door, he dug his hands deep into his pockets and his
dark blue eyes met mine. “Before we start, I just want to say kissing is fun.
Well, it is if it’s done right. ”
“Noted.”
I adjusted my green leopard-print glasses, not sure where he was going with
this.
“But,”
he said, his voice serious, “I don’t want it to be fun for us.”
“So,
you don’t want to do it right…?”
“No,
I want this one to be done right, but…” He screwed up his face as if searching
for words. “Even though it’s fun, I don’t want it to become a habit for us or
anything.”
I
held back the grin that was threatening. “You think this could be a habit? Like
Chinese on a Thursday night?”
“Yes.
Well, no.” He drew in a deep breath and shoved his fingers through his already
rumpled hair. “I just don’t want to be giving mixed signals.”
“Okay,
no mixed signals.” That sounded easy enough. We had our signals pretty much
down pat.
He
shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “To make sure, I think we should
agree beforehand that there will be no touching below the neck.”
“You
think I’m going to leap on you, Finn?” I asked, giggling.
“Scarlett,”
he said, his voice exasperated. “I’m trying to be serious here.”
My
giggle faded away. He was doing me the favor, so I shouldn’t be making this
harder. “You’re right. I’m sorry. No touching below the neck. Agreed.”
“Good.”
He reached out and cupped the side of my face in his palm. It felt so nice that
my breath caught. He’d done it before, when I’d been sad or nervous about
something, but this time it felt different, somehow weighted with expectation.
I
swallowed hard. “Anything else I should know first? Things to make special note
of during the exercise? Which side to tilt my head? You want my glasses off?”
“Ah,
no,” he said, then dropped his hand and dug into his jeans pocket. My cheek was
cool where his skin had been.
“I’ll
just pay attention then.” It was barely above a whisper.
He
frowned, just for a moment. “That’s probably best.”
I
winced. In all the time I’d known Finn, I couldn’t remember having a more
awkward conversation, or seeing him looking more uncomfortable. If he were any
more tense, he’d be one of those statues from his textbooks. Those second
thoughts had been right. This was a bad idea.
“You
know what,” I said, taking half a step back. “This isn’t really working. Let’s
forget it. I’ll call Cole Jericho in the morning and—”
Before
I could finish the sentence, his hands were on either side of my face and his
lips covered mine. Half from surprise and half in reaction to the kiss, I fell
back against the wall behind me. He followed, not letting our mouths break
contact, but true to his word, we weren’t touching below the neck.
He
sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, lightly biting down, and suddenly every
part of me was alive. Alive and wanting. I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss, felt his tongue
slide in, and I almost combusted there on the spot.
His
tongue was confident yet gentle, inviting me into his mouth, and in that
moment, there was nowhere else I wanted to be. He tasted of breath mints, and
something deeper. Something decadent. Yet his familiar Finn scent surrounded
me, and the combination of the two sensations was short-circuiting my brain.
His
lips were soft. Demanding. Heaven. The feeling of his tongue moving against
mine, the rhythm he created, sent my blood rushing through my veins. It was too
much but not enough.
Finn.
He
released me for a fraction of a second as he changed the angle, and this time I
couldn’t help myself—I took control and was the one kissing him, sucking his bottom
lip, pushing against his mouth. A shudder ran through his body, and then it was
as if he’d hit the fast forward button. His lips were everywhere, dancing over
the corner of my mouth, teeth nipping along my jawline, before he was back,
kissing me again, his tongue sliding into home, firm against mine. My heart
beat so hard against my ribs it felt in danger of bursting through.
This
wasn’t kissing as I knew it. This was a whole other level.
My
hands were itching to grip his waist, to pull him against me, but we’d agreed
to no touching below the neck, so I threaded them into his hair, and the slide
of the strands on the sensitive skin between my fingers gave me shivers down to
my toes. I’d never been so turned on by just a kiss. And the weird thing was,
it was Finn who was making me feel this way. Finn. I wasn’t sure if I’d said his name aloud or it was in my
head, but it was the only word that made sense now that the world was upside
down.
Suddenly,
his body stiffened then jerked back. Head spinning, I stumbled but caught
myself before I fell. It was over. Just like that. The lesson was over. His
chest was rising and falling as if he’d been running, and I knew just how he felt.
“So,
um, yeah,” he said. “That’s a basic kiss. You seemed quite good at it already.
I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
With
his eyes studiously trained on the floor, he turned and disappeared down the
hallway, leaving me trying to catch my breath. And remember my name. And how to
use my legs. I slid down the wall to the floor and wrapped my arms around my
knees. That was what he called a basic kiss?
What
the hell had I been missing out on all these years?
So tell me, have you ever done something that you thought was going to end badly or have bad consequences, but it turned out to be a good thing?
I'll give a copy of The Finn Factor to one commenter (when it releases on Sept 28). If you'd like to pre-order, you can grab a copy from iBooks, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Amy Andrews will be posted!
So, please, help a girl out and hit me with your recommendations! 
