Page 68 of Best Kind of Trouble
“Rocky should get you for plagiarism,” he says with a teasingsmile, getting to his feet in a fluid motion. He’s only inches from me now.
“None of it was word for word. I figured they’d be confused if I started talking about boxing.”
He laughs, but it dies away as his gaze darts to my mouth. The way he’s looking at me…
It makes my skin want to be touched and my fingers want to stroke.
I look away. “Well…thanks for checking in.”
He wraps his hand around my chin, turning my face to him.
A gasp escapes me. “You’re being rude.”
“I know. I was rude last night too. It won’t happen again.”
“I know,” I say tightly. “I saw your rule. I added one of my own.”
“Did you?” he asks, his fingers still on my chin. “What did it say?”
I step back, my skin instantly missing the electric sensation of his fingers on me. “It said that I probably should hire someone in HR.”
“Pick Dottie’s friend with the glasses,” he says. “She’d be a great fit. Good instincts.”
“Everything’s a joke with you.”
“That’s why I’d be terrible at HR.”
I glance pointedly at the couch. “It’s not the only reason.”
His laughter fills the room, but I won’t smile at him. Not now.
“It was a good speech, Briar. You’re a natural leader.”
I have to laugh at that. “I have it on good authority that I’m not.”
“Whose?”
I swallow dryly. “My father’s.”
“No offense, but fuck your father.”
A surprised laughbarks out of me.
“This is a clean slate.Yourclean slate.”
“This is starting to sound dangerously like a pep talk.”
He smiles, but there’s an edge of sadness to it. “Maybe I wanted myRockymoment too.” He shuffles on his feet a little, drawing my awareness to his body. I liked the way he felt against me yesterday. I enjoyed it so much it’s filled my mind like a virus.
I don’t mean to touch him. It’s almost like someone else’s hand is lifting to his arm, settling on his hard bicep. “Thank you for caring enough to try. You know…I’ve been thinking about that name tag you were wearing last weekend. You really have been my Mr. Miracle.”
He flinches away as if I’d burned him.
He must see the hurt in my eyes, because he captures my hand in his and squeezes before releasing it. “I should tell you…I promised Hannah to keep my distance from you. I’m assuming you know why. I haven’t been doing a good job of it, obviously, but I love my sister. She was there for me when I needed her. She’s always been there for me.”
Our eyes are glued together as I slowly nod. “Yeah. I…she asked me to make the same promise. It wasn’t hard to make at the time.”
He smiles wryly. “You didn’t think I was capable of charming you?”
