Page 103 of Major Love

“You’re talking to me about danger… and then I find out that you’re in it, too?”

My lips part as my breathing catches, realising that… maybehe has a point.

And that heated gaze lingers on my bottom lip before sliding back up to meet my eyes, waiting for me to defend myself even though we both know that isn’t an option.

“It was some stupid article, and it had nothing to do with my job,” I explain, my voice breathless as he watches me with that unyielding stare. “Someone leaked a story to the press, trying to link me up with this huge country music star. And he has millions of fans, so some of them bought into it.”

And some people will cling to any story in order to diminish the accomplishments of a successful businesswoman.

“They made it out like we were having a secret affair, even though he’s just a friend. At first, I thought that it was silly, and that it would eventually pass and I could laugh about it. But the paparazzi were everywhere, and there was so much fan-hate, and all of these women… it became freakingwildand I just had to get away for a while,” I finish, suddenly so grateful that I’ve been away from my Nashville-problems in Phoenix Falls.

And then we’re watching each other in silence, the only sounds coming from our laboured breathing.

Jason swipes a hand through his hair and quietly murmurs, “Jesus Christ.”

And when he drops his arm back to his side, his intoxicating body-heat washes over me.

I slide my eyes down his heaving chest, rasping, “I guess you’d know all about the women.”

His eyes drop to mine, his brow arching. “What’s that now?”

I don’t really want to fight with him, but I may as well get it all out in the open.

“Halle? Denver? Every other pretty blonde that you see?” I remind him.

His brow lifts higher as he watches me, his biceps flexing beneath his long-sleeved shirt.

“Are you jealous?” he asks, his tone so cautious you’d think he doesn’t believe it.

Yes, I want to rasp.“Seems like you’ve got a type, is all,” I whisper instead.

He cocks an eyebrow. “Blondes?”

I lift my chin. “Yeah.”

“Sunday,” he rumbles slowly. “You werebrunettewhen I first met you.”

I gape and clutch my heart. “I can’tbelievethat you just said that.”

Jason’s eyes dip toward my hand, placed over the soft sweater covering my breasts, and my body turns fevered under his gaze, making me tug off the jacket that I’d half-removed earlier.

His eyes flash back to mine and I grasp the table behind me, steadying myself.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you where I was going this morning,” he says. “It was barely five a.m. and I didn’t think you’d want me to wake you. If I’d known that you’d want me to, nothing would have stopped me.”

And the way that he says it makes my pulse quicken, like there’s a hidden meaning behind his words, and we both know what he’s really saying.

My gaze roams over his swollen chest and up his large rippling shoulders, well aware that nothing could stop this man from taking what he wants.

We’ve never fought before and this is new territory for both of us.

I breathe in a shaky inhale as I take in his search-and-rescue uniform – the utility pants that I can still make out the muscles of his quads beneath, and the official department badges sewn around the swells of his large biceps.

I let out a nervous breath as I swipe a curl from my face, embarrassed for showing so much of my long-neglected heart.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

Jason shakes his head, like I don’t need to apologise to him.

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