The Kissing Challenge - Cookie O'Gorman Page 0,4

gray turned to quicksilver.

Stepping back, I allowed him to see himself for the first time.

"Wow, Anne," he said, sounding impressed. "Good job."

I shrugged. "I had an awesome subject."

Captain's silver eyes shot to mine, and he grinned. "Was that a compliment?"

"Come on," I said and nudged his shoulder. "You know you're gorgeous. With or without the makeup. Girls must tell you that all the time."

"Means more when you say it," he said.

"Eh, hot aliens are a dime a dozen. But I think you'll do."

He was definitely, hands down the hottest alien I'd ever seen. I couldn't give him too many compliments, though, especially if I was planning to kiss him later.

"I can't believe how amazing this looks," he said, reaching up to touch his skin. "It's like foil or something, but also still skin."

I batted his hand away. "I still need to get footage of the completed look," I said. "Think you can stop admiring yourself for that long?"

Captain sat back and shot me a wink. "It'll be hard. But I'll try."

"Just be serious."

And he was. Captain let me get close-up after close-up and pan around him all while he looked stoically straight ahead. His dark brown hair, that strong jaw, those eyes…ugh. If there was a hotter alien in the galaxy, I hadn't met him. That was for sure.

"Done yet?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yep, that was perfect. Thank you, Cap. I'm sure you'll get flack from the guys, but I appreciate it more than I can say."

"Anything for you," he said.

My whole body warmed at that. I didn't think he knew, but Captain said things all the time that turned my insides to mush. After I'd gotten my shots of the alien, I stopped the video and started another. I wanted to be ready for the kiss. But would I ever really be ready? I wondered. My hands shook as I replaced the phone, so it could capture the moment.

"Here." I passed Captain a cleansing towelette, trying my best not to drop it. "So you can remove the makeup."

"Wait," he said and held up his phone, pulling me to his side. "Let's take a picture really fast. We have to document your awesome work."

"But you look so good, and I—"

He cut off my protests. "Anne, just let me get this photo of us. Okay?"

The hot alien and me, I thought as I smiled for the camera. I loved it when Cap did stuff like this. Just insisted on a picture without my having to initiate it. These were the times when I knew our friendship meant just as much to him as it did to me. Also, considering I was about to try and kiss him, a photo didn't seem like a big ask.

I waited until Captain had wiped his face clean. Part of the reason was because I was stalling. What would he do? Would he run as fast as he could in the other direction? I knew the answer already. Captain never ran from anything. But what would I do if he pushed me away? I wasn't sure. Probably die of embarrassment—or drown in a puddle of my own tears. The odds were fifty-fifty.

But the other reason I waited was because…I didn't want to kiss a hot alien.

I wanted to kiss my best friend.

Captain finished scrubbing, pulled the towelette away from his face and smiled. There he was.

"Um, there's kind of something else I wanted to try," I said hesitantly.

"Okay," he said and chucked the cloth into the trash. "I'm game. What did you have in mind?"

Oh gosh, it was now or never.

"All you have to do is look into the camera," I said, walking closer. "I'll do the rest."

"No problem," Captain said. "So just straight into the camera?"

I nodded, bending so I was at his level. If he'd been standing, I would've had to go on my tippy-toes for sure. And even then, I might not have been able to reach. Captain was like a giant in comparison to my shorter frame.

"Should I go full-on smolder?" he joked. "Or just tamp it down to half?"

"Whichever one. I'm sure they both look good on you."

I leaned in, my mouth only inches away from his face—when Captain suddenly turned his head. He looked surprised to find me so close. His smile faded into something more intense as he stared into my eyes.

And I froze.

"Anne?" he asked after a moment.

I couldn't help it. The hitch in his deep voice, the way he was looking at me, everything about him was