Your Endless Love (The Bennett Family 9)

“You do that.”

“Would you sleep better if I did?” I grin, suddenly feeling like prodding is in order. Why exactly does he care? How much does he care?

“Yeah, I would.”

“Okay... Mr. B

izarrely Protective.” Fiddling with my phone, I delete the app, then show him my screen. “Now, go back to kicking ass. You’re really good with those fake takedowns.”

“I’m good at a lot of things.” His gaze drops to my mouth before snapping back up.

“We’re still talking about stunts?” I challenge.

“What else?”

He winks, his face breaking into that smile I love so much. A few drops of sweat trickle down that gorgeous chest. He’s so lickable. I catch myself drawing my tongue over my lower lip. My nipples have perked up. When our gazes cross, I hold up my book, signaling I want to get back to it.

Mercifully, he rises to his feet and turns his attention to the kids again, this time giving me a view of his back. He’s wearing jeans, which I find a singularly terrible choice of clothes. I mean, we’re at the lake, the sun is shining. Couldn’t he grace some shorts?

With a sigh, I snap my focus on the book. Tempting as it is to keep glancing at Alex, I don’t want to give off the wrong vibe. I’ve always had a penchant for choosing the wrong men, but an actor whose contract dictates his love life and who was engaged would be an exceptionally huge mistake. But looking never hurt. Why not indulge in the muscle-fest taking place right in front of me? Lowering my book just a smidge, I discover I’m excellent at juggling two activities: reading and Alex-gazing.

As the day goes on, I catch him looking at me almost as often as he catches me looking at him. Oh man. There are only so many times I can pass off his winks as eye twitches, or his blatant perusal as lazy eye syndrome. Whether he wants to flirt, that’s another story. All signs point to no. When I catch him in the act, he glances the other way.

But then he goes and does it again as if he can’t help himself, which makes it even hotter.

Chapter Ten

Summer

Two days later, I wake up too late, and I run to the breakfast room as if something’s chasing me. Our group has its own open buffet in the separate room where we have all our meals, but muffins are popular.

If I don’t make it to breakfast in time, there won’t be any left. To my utter disappointment, I was right.

“Summer, come here!” Alex motions me to join him at his table, which is empty otherwise. Claudia, one of the Spanish teachers, and the three other supervisors usually sitting with us are already gone, the kids too.

I grab some ham, tomatoes, and bread before heading to the table.

“Here, look what I saved you.” He points to the plate in front of him, which contains two muffins.

“For me?” I ask unnecessarily, thrilled to the tips of my toes.

“Yeah.”

“How did you know?”

“First day, you gave Claudia the stink eye when she asked if she could have one of your muffins, since you had two and there were none left. And yesterday, you told Billie he had to wash his hands because he’d been patting a stray cat. Then you took the last muffin.”

“That was for his own good,” I protest. “He’d already had five.”

“Liar! You did it because you wanted the muffin for yourself. Admit it.”

Setting my elbows on the table, I drop my face in my hands and whisper, “Okay, I admit it. I know it was selfish, but I just really needed that one bite.”

Kicking his leg playfully under the table, I attack the muffin. The cherry and chocolate flavor melts on my tongue. Parts of me melt too as I realize how much attention he’s been paying to me. Maybe it’s silly to put so much stock in such a little thing, but it makes me feel cared for. Important.

“I’m going out on the water with a Jet Ski in about an hour, want to join me?” he asks.

“Thanks, but no. I don’t like being too far from shore. I don’t like deep water.”