I’m nearly to the living room when I hear a clinking noise behind me. I whirl around just in time to see Paige see me.
Holy. Shit.
All thoughts of apologies and forever go out the window because all I can think about is right now.
Her legs are a mile long, the tops of her thighs covered by a piece of denim. A white top hugs her torso with two tiny buttons just under her cleavage. Red lipstick draws attention to her kissable mouth, and it takes me a minute to remember English.
“Oh,” she says in a way that makes it impossible to distinguish how she feels. She runs a hand through her wavy hair. “I didn’t know you were home.”
The light catches on her bracelets as she drops her hand.
Remember how to speak. Talk!
I clear my throat.
“Don’t worry,” she says, heading for the door. “I know you aren’t speaking to me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
Dressed like that? “Where, Paige?”
She pivots on those sexy black boots and tries to rip my soul apart with her glare. It’s so cold, so icy that I shiver.
“You know what? Fuck off.” She narrows her eyes. “I don’t owe you anything while you definitely owe me an apology.”
I think she thinks I should apologize for something different than I think I should say I’m sorry for. And that irritates the hell out of me.
“What do you want me to apologize for? For not letting you run off with what’s-his-face?” I ask, my voice a little louder than I care to admit.
The longer I think about him touching her, the madder I become. Steam rolls out of my ears as I think about that shit’s hands touching those tanned legs or worse—what’s between them.
He won’t care about her. He’ll only care about getting a piece of ass and that makes me want to blow. She’s so much more than that.
Paige laughs angrily. “You didn’t not let me do anything, bud. You acted like a fool in front of the whole damn bar and then thought, what? That you could kiss me and dazzle me with your expertise, and I’d forget the whole damn thing? I don’t know who you thought you were dealing with, but you must’ve forgotten.”
She turns toward the door. I leap forward and grab her hand. She flings it off her and faces me, her fingers clenching at her sides.
“I didn’t forget who I was dealing with. I know exactly who I was dealing with, and that’s why I stepped in,” I say.
“Well, I’m on my way to see Griffin tonight. What are you going to do about that?”
“Dressed like that?”
“Hopefully not for long.”
She tenses her jaw, staring me down. I scowl back at her.
This is not how I wanted this to go, but I can’t figure out how to defuse the situation now.
“We need to talk,” I say, the words shaking. “Now.”
She steps to me like a fighter in the ring. “If we talk, it’ll be when I say. You don’t get to call the shots, Nate. You had a chance—multiple ones. And you blew it.” She lifts her chin. “Besides, we’re just friends. Why do you even care?”
It’s a taunt. She’s leveled another challenge my way, and all I can think of are the words I told her long ago—Don’t take challenges you can’t win.
Slowly, a smile spreads across my face. Game on, baby.
I walk toward her. She walks backward. Her eyes go wide as her back hits the wall, rattling a piece of artwork.
Her breathing is rushed as she breathes in and out quickly. Her pupils dilate as she watches me watch her.
My insides burn, my fingers itch to grab her and pull her to me. To make her mine.
But first …
“You want to know why I care?” I ask her. “Because I’m not about to let you run off and fuck some guy because I got it all wrong.”
Her lips part. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That means that I—”
“No. You know what? I don’t care.”
She presses her hands against my chest, but I don’t budge.
“Yes, you do,” I say, looking down at her. “You care as much as I do. You care so much it scares you.”
Her hands drop from my torso, and she stills.
I take a breath in an attempt to settle myself before I just scoop her up and kiss the hell out of her.
“You want to know what I think?” I ask.
“No.”
But her tone says differently. It shakes, wobbling just enough to give me an opening.
“I think you’ve been covering how you really feel about me with your little flirting games and innuendos, thinking if you make light of it, you don’t have to face the truth.”
She falls back against the wall again.
I step even closer. “I’ve avoided you. I’ve turned you down. I’ve told myself a thousand times, jacked off in the shower more times than I can count just imagining your tight little body wrapped around me, that we were incompatible. That I should leave you alone.”