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His mouth felt so good. It would feel so good on her lips. And his mouth was so close. She turned her head toward him. Her mouth searched desperately for his, and his lips willingly accepted hers. His mouth tickled and teased, plying her lips with soft, gentle kisses. He pulled her shoulders, gradually moving backward until he was reclined against the couch and she was leaning across his body, greedily seeking his lips with hers. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her mouth against his. The more frantically she kissed him, the more passionately he responded, deepening their kiss as he enfolded his arms around her back, pressing her against his chest.
A knock sounded at the door, and she jumped back wide-eyed and dismayed, wiping her swollen lips with the back of her hand. “Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!” she whispered in frenzy.
“It’s okay. Calm down.” He pulled her hands down and set them in her lap. “Nothing happened, and we didn’t do anything wrong. You sit, and I’ll get the door.”
As he opened the door to let Charlie in, she tried to tell herself she was still in control. But she knew it wasn’t true. With every touch and every kiss she gave another piece of her heart. Already she’d be devastated when he moved on to another girl, as she knew he eventually would. Part of her wanted him to declare he would love her forever. Another part of her was absolutely terrified of hearing those words.
Charlie was startled when Spencer answered the door. She whipped around. “Goodnight, Josh. See you later.” She slipped in the door and tried to shut it, but it wouldn’t close. Josh’s foot was in the way.
He grinned. “You see? I told you Spencer would still be here. I get to come inside.”
“Spencer was just leaving,” said Emily.
“No I wasn’t. I was planning to heat some more water for tea. Decaf, anyone?”
“That sounds good,” said Josh.
Charlie sighed. She really needed to talk to her sister, without Josh around. He’d messed up her head tonight. He was just so... so something. What was it? He was arrogant and egotistical. But that was nothing new. He was overpowering—he maxed out her senses. And he didn’t act threatened by her. She’d always thought that would be a good thing. But now she’d met a guy she didn’t intimidate, she wasn’t sure she liked it after all.
Spencer had put a kettle on to boil before returning to the couch to talk to Josh. They leaned back and got comfortable, as if they had no intention of leaving any time soon. Emily caught Charlie’s eyes and rose from her position between the two men. Charlie knew her intention as soon as she headed her direction. While the guys were deeply engaged, discussing something earth-shatteringly important, like who’d win the World Series, Charlie and Emily slipped out the apartment door.
Giggling softly as they’d done as young girls, they raced for the stairs. “Which way?” said Charlie.
“Up one flight, and then we’ll take the elevator.”
They hurried, breathless and panting, and then rode the elevator up to the open rooftop terrace.
“What do you think they’ll do when they realize we’re gone?” asked Charlie.
“I don’t know, but I was desperate,” Emily confided. “We need to talk.”
“Okay, you first. No, maybe I should go first.”
“Go ahead,” Emily encouraged.
Charlie let out a breath. “He... He gets me to do things I don’t want to do. He doesn’t back off when I yell at him or say no. He... He confuses me—I can’t think straight. And then to top it all off, I’m leaving tomorrow, so I’m probably getting all worked up over nothing.”
Emily chewed her lip. “Okay... Advice or sympathy?”
“Advice now. Sympathy later.”
“Well... I think you shouldn’t close the door on the possibility he’s the one. You have so many things working against this relationship, especially with the distance between you. If it lasts, it would have to be amazing. And you have to give amazing a chance.”
Charlie thought for a moment. “Okay, and I’m going to confess something, because I don’t know what to do about it.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He kissed me in Spencer’s living room, and he’s been trying to do it again ever since.” She opened pleading eyes to her sister. “What should I do?”
Emily laughed. “I thought that might be what happened. But you haven’t let him kiss you again?”
“No. But he’s very determined to kiss me again before he leaves. Even if we stay out here for three hours, he’ll probably still be waiting in the apartment for me.”
“Sister, I don’t think I can help you. So far, I’ve kissed Spencer twice since I decided not to kiss him anymore.”
Charlie clapped her hands as she laughed. “Good for Spencer.”
“You traitor—you’re my sister. You know I’ll get hurt when he does his thing and takes up with someone new. The more I kiss him, the more it’s going to hurt when he leaves me.”
“Okay. Advice or sympathy?”
“Advice. You’re crummy at giving sympathy. You already laughed at me.”
