Page 72 of My Fiancé's Brother

“Oh thanks,” I sounded listless.

He eyeballed me and then his gaze dropped to my still full plate. “Everything okay?”

“Sure.”

He leaned back. “Want to tell me what’s bugging you?”

“Nothing.”

He studied me for a long moment. I dropped my eyes, unable to withstand his scrutiny. I slid off my stool and started to clear my plate. He sat there watching me from beneath the brim of his baseball hat. How could I tell him that his job scared me half to death? If he knew that I was this upset about his job, he might realize that my feelings were a bit more than sisterly. I worked to hide my emotions.

“I’m fine.”

“Emily.”

“Matt cheated on me,” I blurted out.

His expression didn’t shift. He just continued to observe me.

“He told me that he fooled around with someone after the party, but he wouldn’t tell me with whom.”

“He told you that he slept with someone?”

I rubbed one eye. “He said that they didn’t have sex, they just fooled around.”

There was a tick in his jaw. “What does that mean?”

“I guess they kissed. And…”

“And what?”

“And she…” My face heated up. “She did things with her mouth.”

He crossed his arms. “He told you this.”

I nodded feeling oddly embarrassed. “Yeah.”

Silence from him.

I started to load the dishwasher. “People make mistakes, right? I mean, I'm no angel either.”

Green eyes stared at me.

I shrugged. “I think I'm just confused about some stuff.”

Like the fact that people pointed guns at Jackson and tried to kill him. That his job was so dangerous, he didn’t want to get married or have kids. Did that mean he thought he was going to die? How did he sleep at night? How was I ever going to sleep again at night?

I glanced up at him. His nostrils flared, but he didn’t seem to bereacting at all. I shut the dishwasher and started to wipe down the counters. “Anyways.”

I finished the counters and turned to walk out of the kitchen, and I almost did a face plant on his hard chest. How he had managed to move so silently around to this side of the island, I had no idea.

“Oh sorry,” I said.

I tilted my head back to see if he even saw me, and his gaze, shadowed beneath the brim of his hat, was on my face. I took a step back, and he followed, stepping so close to me, he almost touched me. I took another step back, and he kept on coming. I gasped when I bumped into the island, and he stepped in so close. I thought I might faint as the heat of his body radiated around me. I trembled.

He reached out and then I squeaked as he lifted me. My ass hit the countertop, my eyes now almost level to his face. He placed a hand on either side of me on the counter, his huge arms caging me in, while he leaned forward towards me, bringing his face close to mine. Still, we didn’t touch.

My eyes were wide and trapped by the intensity of his stare. I was completely still, except for my rib cage, which was working overtime to bring air into my lungs.

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