A jolt of electricity shot from his lips to mine, and I felt like I had been scalded. I jerked back, surprised.
“Shelly?” he prompted.
“Hmm?” I replied.
“Was that okay?” he asked, still staring at me, his gaze hard but soft all at the same time.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. I lifted my hand to my lips, touching them lightly. They felt funny. Different. Not like before.
“Can I do it again?” he asked, and he stepped a little closer.
I lifted onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, hoping against hope that it had to have been a fluke. Reactions like that weren’t real. The hot feeling wouldn’t assail me this time.
But it did. I got the same warm feeling.
I stepped back onto my heels again and lifted my hand back up to my lips.
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“I’ve been kissed before,” I said.
He chuckled. “Most women your age have.”
“But…”
“But what?” He stared at me, his eyes lighting on my eyes, my nose, my cheeks, and then on my lips again.
“But it’s never felt like that.” I took a breath to steady myself. “Did it feel weird to you?”
“It felt fucking amazing.” His voice had a tinge of gravel to it that wasn’t there before. “It felt like I should have kissed you sooner.”
“Is this what boyfriends do?” I asked. I looked around. “Do you think she’s watching?”
“Who?” His brow furrowed.
“Megan.”
“Fuck, I forgot all about Megan.” He scrubbed a hand down his face and took a step back. “And yes, this is what boyfriends do.”
“Oh, okay.”
We finished walking Channing in complete silence. Afterward, I hung up the leash, kicked off my shoes and put them in the mudroom, and said, “I’m going to go to my room. Good night.”
“’Night, Shelly,” he replied.
I turned to walk away, but I turned back at the last minute. “Thank you for letting me hang out with your friends.”
“Thank you for hanging out with my friends,” he replied.
I smiled. “It was fun. ‘Night,” I said.
I went to the guest room and closed the door behind me. Then I sagged against it, and I lifted my fingertips to my lips again. For some reason, I felt like I’d been kissed for the very first time. I’d done it many times in the past, but this time it felt different. And it was going to drive me crazy until I figured out why.
Chapter 25
Clark
Shelly refused to look me in the eye. She had refused to look me in the eye all day today. This morning, when I’d gone to the kitchen, she’d been sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop open, working. She’d already dressed and was ready to go. But she barely looked up at me. That wasn’t abnormal for Shelly. When she was engrossed in her work, she often ignored her surroundings.