I raised a brow.
"Kiss me, Caroline."
I thought my heart stopped for a moment.
Too dumbstruck to say anything, I let out a breath and gulped.
Kiss me, Caroline.
The words kept ringing in my ears.
"Wha...I...no,' I finally blurted out.He frowned.
"Think about it’ "No" "Five thousand dollars.’ He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a
pole casually.
At this point, I was simmering with fury.
"I said no—"
"We'll take it, Liam cut me off and I turned to him with wide eyes.You traitor! "Liam? What the hell!"
"I'll let you two have a word)’ Nick said with a rather devilish smirk on his face.
Clenching my jaw in anger, I motioned for Liam to follow me.
"Why would you do that?"I snapped.
"Caroline, think about it.Five thousand dollars.We could be the stars of the carnival.No one is going to
make that much and after paying the committee, we'll have our share too"
I pondered over his words.
"And you never wanted to run this booth in the first place.Now all you have to do is kiss one guy and
get this over with."
"That one guy happens to be my boss,"I snapped.
"The boss who clearly has a thing for you.I don't see the problem."I let out a laugh at his words.
Last time I believed he had a thing for me, he made sure I knew I was nothing more than a backup.
"He doesn't have a thing for me, trust me.
He's just trying to prove a point’ Liam's phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket.
"Shit.I have to be somewhere’ My eyes grew wide.
"Don't you dare leave me alone here."
"I'm sorry, Care.I have to go.Just think about this, okay? I know you'll make the right decision."
He disappeared in the crowd.
Slowly, I turned to the devil himself, who had a little smirk playing on his lips.
"I'm not doing it" I stated.
The smirk vanished and was replaced by a scowl.
"You were ready to kiss that took a while ago.What's wrong with me?"
How professional of him! I gritted my teeth in annoyance.
"You're my boss.’ "Temporary boss,’ he corrected.
"What even—"
"A few weeks from now when my assistant Penny comes back, you'll find yourself sitting in your dorm,
wondering how you let something like this slip away because you wouldn't kiss your boss, who will be a
nobody to you in no time.’ I swallowed.
For some reason, his words stirred something inside me.
Will he really be a nobody? No wonder he thought that.
Because he knows I'll be a nobody to him.
I'm already a nobody.
"Since we're talking about future inhibitions..."
I managed to pull on a smile, trying my best to conceal my faltering demeanour.
"You're an asshole" I said.
He frowned.
"Let me remind you that I'm still your boss—"
Without letting him finish, I pushed myself in his direction and kissed him.
He didn't respond at first and I thought I had acted too quickly, but only a second later his arm wrapped
around my waist and he lifted me up.
Heated lips kissed me back with an intense fervour and I would be lying if I said he wasn't a good
kisser.
Since the past few days, I'd imagined kissing him and this, actually kissing him, was nothing like that.
It was better.
Like a blast of passion thrown in my face.
A shiver ran down my spine when he tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled at the strands gently,
making a distraction to dominate the kiss as his tongue slipped inside my mouth.
I bit down on his tongue, not too hard but just enough to make him hiss in pain and end the kiss.
Now we were both staring at each other, breathless.
Me with a straight face while his face was a mix of surprise and amusement.
"There,' I said.
I couldn't help but look at his lips, still being able to feel the warmth of them on mine.
Snap out of it, Caroline! Without another word, I turned around and disappeared somewhere in the
crowd, going as far away from him as I could.
Soon, I found myself standing at the games stall.
Rebekah looked up at me.
"Ohh, raunchy.’ She smirked.
"Looks like somebody's back from a hot make-out session.’ I touched my swollen lips.
"I saw Zach going towards the kissing booth a while ago.
Aw, look at you blushing, my lovestruck weirdo.
Tell me, did the old spark reignite?"
I shook my head.
Her lips pulled up into a frown as something seemed to have dawned on her."Caroline."
She raised a brow.
"Please tell me you just made out with Zach or some guy from our college."
"No! "Then some guy from another college? Or even an old man with his grandkids at the damn
carnival? Oh for the love of God!"
I stayed quiet.
"Nick Sinclair?"
I nodded.
She blinked at me and then sighed.
"Damn you, Nicholas Sullivan-Sinclair’ She rolled her eyes.
"Is that his full name?"
I raised a brow.
"That's what you're worried about right now?"
"I'm not worried about anything.That kiss.It didn't mean anything’ At least, not to him.
"And he's paying five thousand dollars for it.So it's a win-win for us? "Wait.
Five freaking what?"
She gasped.
"Hey" I turned around to the voice.It was Liam.
"How did it go?"he asked me.
"It went like it was supposed to and now I'll be in the dorm" "Wait, I'm a little lost,’ Rebekah said.
"So am I Liam added.
"Fill in the blanks, you two.I'm off"
With that, I went straight to the dorm, changed into some comfortable pajamas and spent the rest of the
day in the bed, watching YouTube videos and eating that sucker's expensive chocolates.
True to his word, they were really sweet.
I may actually get a sugar rush.
In the evening, the door was swung open and Rebekah and Liam barged inside with packets of chips,
pizza boxes and some soft drinks.
"We filled in the blanks..."
Liam started to say while climbing on Rebekah's bed and kicking his shoes on the floor.
"And we have deduced that he is in love with you."
He smirked.
"His words, not mine" Rebekah stated while getting on my bed.
"I'll pass on that conversation.Now that."
I pointed to the snack.
"What are we celebrating?"
"Five thousand dollars.’ Rebekah clapped her hands and I chuckled.
"Oh, and I just transferred your share to your account," Liam said.
"Thanks.’ I smiled.
"Oh no.Thank you, Care.Our stall was a huge success.People will be talking about it for days"
And I will be thinking about it for days.
But I shouldn't.
Because I knew that eventually, that kiss would be nothing more than a distant memory.
After all, me and him will soon be nobody to each other.
"Earth to Caroline"
Rebekah snapped her fingers in front of my face.
"Thinking about him already?"Liam chuckled.
I threw my pillow in his face.
"Oh.I'll take that as a yes."
He burst out laughing.
"Come on, Care.You've been eerily quiet after that incident.Admit it,, Rebekah said.
"Admit what?"I asked.
"That it meant something to you" I bit my lip.
"Maybe, maybe not" Liam spoke up again, "I'll take that as a yes."
"You're lucky I'm out of pillows here"
I smiled in a sarcastic manner.
"Right."
He winked and got up to fetch the boxes of pizza.
"Now, come on,' he said.
"These pizzas aren't gonna eat themselves" "That would be a horrible sight."
Rebekah scrunched her nose up.
He deadpanned, "yeah,’ but finally blinked and brought the boxes to my bed.
I devoured the pizza and after we watched a movie, Liam left our dorm.
Sleep didn't come easily that night.
I kept tossing and turning and when I finally slipped into slumber, I dreamt about that kiss.
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