Page 68 of Ruining His Smirk

“I did too.”

“Yeah? You didn’t say much.”

He snorted. “Neither did you. You just kept looking at me without blinking.”

Despite the coldness inside the sphere, warmth moved through me.

“She started blushing because of your stare.”

I chuckled. “I wanted to touch you real bad. But you were a scientist and I was from a different group. I had no hope, but when you said you had fencing gear and asked whether I wanted to duel, fuck yes, I remember thinking: I get to duel him? Hell, yes, I want that.”

“I couldn’t believe my luck either. I’ve not found anyone else here in Antarctica who can fence.”

“Who cared about fencing? I can’t fence either. I just wanted to get close to you.”

Nate’s breath caught.

“I wanted an excuse to put my hands on you without making a fool of myself. Figured a fencing duel would do.”

His eyes grew big and I could see the whites in the instrument light. For several seconds, Nate did not speak.

“You accepted a fencing challenge because you wanted sanctioned physical contact, but you didn’t know how to fence?”

“I’m pretty familiar with swords. Been mock fighting all my childhood.”

“Garrett…”

I drew in a breath. “What?”

“What did you think happened at that last touch?”

“Our blades landed together. If you hadn’t distracted me, mine would’ve landed first. Instead, we hit at the same time, and the referee handed you the match without even stopping to think about it.”

Nate stared at me. “And you think I distracted you… how?”

I fidgeted in the seat. “A man like you winks at me. My mind went blank for a moment. I lost the edge, and by the time I could get my damn self focused on the duel, it was over.”

“And you thought that was unfair because our blades landed at the same instant.”

“Exactly. It wasn’t as fucking clear-cut as the referee made it out to be.”

“Garrett,” Nate said carefully, “the referee did not need to consider which blade landed first.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had right of way.”

I frowned. “You had what?”

“Right of way.”

“That some British expression?”

“No.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“You don’t know the right of way and yet… you believed you were good to enter a formal fencing bout?”