All the Right Moves(27)
“Define a little.”
“A few kisses?” She moved close enough to slide her palms up his chest. Kissed his chin.
Instead of turning away, filling his hands with plates and forks, he took hold of that slender waist of hers. It took all his willpower to keep on breathing, to not push his hardening erection into her hip, show her what she was doing to him.
“I’m not trying to start anything,” she said. “Just a kiss or two to hold me over.” Her slow smile brought out interesting colors in her hazel eyes. Her lashes were dark and thick in contrast to the pale skin that almost looked as soft as it felt.
“I won’t be responsible for you being unprepared tomorrow.” He punctuated the warning with a gentle press of his lips to hers. “That said...we can be sensible....” He came back with purpose, nudging her mouth open, slipping his tongue inside, more deeply than he’d intended.
She swayed backward. The counter helped steady her, which would have been fine if it weren’t for her leaning into his fly, rubbing with just enough friction to push him beyond his limit. He started to move his hips, already feeling the tight coil at the base of his spine that preceded the point of no return.
He froze. His breath came out in ragged puffs against her cheek. “You’re making this extremely difficult,” he said through gritted teeth. “You want help with the dishes, or do I quiz you?”
“I don’t know whether to be impressed by your self-control, or pissed.”
“Be both.” He turned around. If he could have walked, he’d have gone to hide in the bathroom until the crisis passed. “I sure as hell am.”
She didn’t make a sound behind him. Which didn’t help.
“What’s it going to be?” He picked up his orange juice and polished it off in one gulp. He wished it had been something stronger, but scotch didn’t exactly go with omelets.
She sighed. “I’ll wash,” she said, and walked around him to get her book. After a sad shake of her head, she opened the book to the back pages. “Here are a list of questions and answers.”
He watched the sink fill with soapy water, ruthlessly shutting down all the reasons he was being an idiot. But he’d been in situations where studying had to take precedence. Even when it was so difficult the only way to settle was to dig his fingers into his thigh muscle until his cock cried uncle. “You know for sure this material will be covered in your exam?”
“Nope, but some of it should.” Before she collected the dishes, she got herself a glass of iced tea and drank that sucker fast.
Evidently, her body temperature had shot up, too. Speaking of which, he’d probably cool off a lot faster if he started reading over the list of questions.
* * *
CASSIE FINISHED putting the dishes in the water. She faced forward, although the image of him sitting at her counter, head bent over her book, was so clear in her mind’s eye, she wondered how she’d get through the next ten minutes, let alone a few hours.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Shoot.”
“These questions all pertain to where emotions originate in the brain. First one—”
God, she was nervous already. “I warned you I don’t test well, right?”
“You shouldn’t be worried now. This is only prep.”
She’d just bet he was one of those guys who never had to study. “Okay, go.”
“Resilience.”
She knew this one. “Prefrontal cortex.”
“Outlook, as in whether you see the glass half-empty or half-full.”
“Ventral striatum.”
“Two gold stars so far,” he said, and she shook her head, annoyed with herself for caring that she got the answers right for him. “Now, let’s see...sensitivity to social cues.”
She drew a blank.
“Cassie?”
“I’m thinking.”
“This refers to facial expressions, tone of voice—”
“I know what social cues are.” She hadn’t meant to snap. “Fusiform-amygdala.”
“Right again.” He paused. “Okay to interject my own question?”
Sighing, she turned. “I’m sorry for being grumpy. Please, ask away.”
“No apology necessary. I’d be cussing if I had to memorize this stuff. You really need to know this for a psychology degree?” He looked genuinely horrified, and so damn adorable she wanted to hug him. Thank God she was elbow deep in suds.