And then my mood dampened when I remembered the name of the last game. “Kiss ‘em Like You Mean It”.

“Wow, wow. What fun! Now this last one is simple, and the crowd is going to decide if they win. For the record, we were going to go with our backup game if the couple of friends won, but since we have ourselves a bonafide couple up here, why not? These two have just been showing us what a perfect pair they are. But what is romance without a little steam, right? The truly perfect couple really knows how to make it sizzle, and they’re going to prove they’ve got that boom factor right here for all of us. They’ve got five seconds to kiss each other and convince us they’re head over heels. If they succeed, clap like your life depends on it. If they fail, give them a friendly little ‘boo’. Shall we?”

My heart was pounding out of my chest. Dean turned to face me, taking my hands in his fingertips and grinning down at me. He mouthed the word, “relax.”

I forced a deep breath and felt myself calm, just a touch.

“Are you two ready? Five seconds to prove you’ve got it!”

I gave Dean the slightest nod, and then it happened. His mouth was on mine and his lips were even softer and warmer than I remembered. I gasped into his mouth, feeling my knees threaten to give out just as he wrapped an arm around the small of my back, pulling me into him. I went light-headed as his tongue slid teasingly across my lower lip before he crashed his lips back into mine.

I brought both hands up to the back of his head, grabbing handfuls of his short hair and letting out another little moan–and oh, God, he was right. He’d said I moaned during our first kiss and there it was again.

“Five seconds!” The host called.

Dean pulled back and I found myself still inching towards him. He grinned and put a fingertip to my chin, breaking the moment. I blinked and felt suddenly awake. I realized my co-workers were all roaring with approval. I couldn’t make out a single “boo” from the crowd.

“Well?” the host yelled. “What do we say, folks? Is it true love?”

Wild cheers rang out and I even saw Jonas Pollard whooping and pumping his fist in the air. Lizzie had her hands cupped over her mouth and was smiling and yelling something I couldn’t hear.

“Then we have our winners! You two get an exclusive spa day tomorrow as well as a private, romantic night at the Chateau de Lorenz, a local three star restaurant. Everybody give it up for our love birds!”

I found myself smiling and clapping along with everyone else until the high of competition started to fade. A spa day? Dinner alone with Dean? Both of those sounded like very bad ideas that I wouldn’t be able to back out of without raising suspicion. When I glanced up at Dean, it seemed like he had come to the same conclusion, but the bastard looked downright smug about it.