Page 9 of Breakaway

So he said, “Why don’t we go somewhere quieter?”

Chapter Two

Remi pulled back from Jase on the red leather banquette. “What?”

He looked at her, eyes heavy lidded, mouth curved into a sexy smile. He still had his hands on her, those big, strong hands, and a moment ago she’d been plastered against his hard chest. The air around them buzzed with electricity and she squeezed her thighs together.

“Let’s go somewhere quieter. Maybe that jazz club. This place is too…frantic.”

“Uh…” Remi’s mind worked furiously. What the hell was going on here? This was supposed to be a fake flirtation to get Delise off her back. Okay, and Jase’s ex, the freakin’ gorgeous supermodel Brianne Haskett. He’d dumped a model, but he was flirting with her? Plain little Remi? A boring, responsible school teacher? Whaaaat?

It had to be a joke.

She laughed.

He frowned.

She laid a hand on his chest—oh sweet loving lord, what a nice chest it was, hard and muscular and warm—and gave him a playfulshove. “Don’t be silly. We don’t even know each other. We’re just doing each other a favor.”

He blinked, brows still joined above his slightly crooked nose. It was cute, that crooked nose in an otherwise heart-stoppingly handsome face—square jaw, high cheekbones, melting chocolate eyes. A little scar above his left eyebrow was also endearingly imperfect.

“Well, yeah,” he said. “But I like talking to you. And it’s hard here, with the loud music and all these people.”

Her mind skittered off in a thousand different directions. He was serious. He liked talking to her. Warmth blossomed inside her and spread through her body, tingling through every nerve ending. Oh no. She recognized that feeling. It was…attraction.

She liked talking to Jase too.

She put the straw of her drink to her mouth and sucked hard, downing the rest of her mojito. The drinks she’d had so far were creating a pleasant buzz of warmth and well-being. She looked at Jase.

“I came with my friends.”

“Me too.” He paused. “You need a distraction. Remember? So you don’t worry about your brother and sister.”

They looked at each other. Heat grew. Tension shimmered. When his eyes dropped to her mouth, everything inside Remi went hot and liquid and aching. Her eyes widened and she licked her lips.

His eyes got even darker and his lips parted.

Remi reached to set her empty glass on the low table in front of them. She missed and it hit the floor with athunk.They ignored it.

“You’re not my type,” Jase said.

Huh? She blinked. “Okay, then.” She started to stand but he grabbed her hand and tugged her back down, almost onto his lap.

“I mean…you didn’t used to be my type. Hell.” The corners of his mouth turned down. “I sound like an idiot. Iaman idiot.”

Her heart softened. She relaxed onto the couch, his arm around her waist, and it felt sooooo good.

“You’re not an idiot,” she said with a little laugh.

“Yeah, I am. Bah.” He shook his head, mouth tight. “What I mean is, I’m not normally attracted to cute little blondes.”

Cute little blonde? Yeah, that was her. How she wished she had mile-long legs and big boobs and full lips like Brianne Haskett. Stephanie Seymour. Laetitia Casta. All those other Victoria’s Secret models who looked like that.

No, she was teeny weeny, skinny, flat-chested, with wispy blonde hair.

But Jase seemed to find her attractive.

She tilted her head to one side and regarded him through a rum-and-lust haze. “You’re kidding. Right?”

---