Page 46 of The Other Plan

Shit!

No. No more kissing Carter. Kissing Carter was like begging to break my own heart. But like a wrecking ball to my carefully constructed walls, his lips and his touch had battered my walls and left cracks I hurried to repair. As thoughts tumbled through my brain, I forced myself not to look at him, hoping by the time we got back to my place, I’d have the time to patch what he’d broken through. Rebuild the walls that had kept me safe from the kind of heartbreak I’d swore I’d never endure again.

But that kiss...

I replayed it over and over again. It had felt so amazing to feel his lips on mine once again, like hearing my favorite song after a decade of silence. He’d made my soul sing when his lips had pressed into mine—a song only he could coax out of me.

We pulled up to my house, and he put the car in park. Still forcing my eyes ahead, refusing to let him put me under another spell, I cleared my throat.

“Thanks for the lift. See you around.”

I reached for my door to jump out but heard the lock click.

“Where are you going so fast?” he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I flipped the lock and reached for the handle but heard it click again.

“Seriously?” I spun in my seat, then instantly regretted the decision to look at him.

Damn it. Those eyes.

“Are we really going to pretend that kiss didn’t just happen?”

Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Yep.”

A sly smirk lifted the corner of his lips as he leaned a little closer. “Really? Just like that, you’re gonna forget about it?”

“That’s the plan.”

His gaze drifted to my lips for a moment, causing my body to flush with desire. I cursed the way my own mouth gravitated toward his.

No! No, no, no, no, NO! Stop it, mouth!

“You can’t lie to me, Jenna. I felt you respond to my kiss. You’ve always been a terrible liar.”

“It was a momentary lapse of concentration. That’s all.”

His smile grew. “A momentary lapse of concentration, huh? So, that means you had to concentrate not to kiss me.”

I opened my mouth to argue but knowing I would get busted in another lie, I snapped it shut, pursing my disobedient lips together.

Carter leaned closer. “How hard are you concentrating now?”

The lump in my throat nearly choked out my breath. “Not at all.”

He leaned a little closer. “How about now?”

Closing my eyes, I inhaled a stilling breath.

Don’t kiss him. Don’t kiss him. Don’t kiss him. Do you hear me, lips? No kissing!

But when I opened my eyes, I realized I’d leaned over toward him, my body like a magnet to his, and now his lips hovered just inches from mine.

“And now? Are you concentrating hard now?” he asked with a soft smile.

Knowing my mind and my lips were about to go rogue and being incapable of being this close to him without shoving my tongue in his mouth, I spun around in my seat, flipped the lock, grabbed the handle, and jumped out.

“Really?” I heard him call just before the door slammed shut.