Page 71 of You've Got Male

She didn’t want to examine her body’s response too closely, because she wasn’t sure she’d like the conclusion she’d come to. Or why it felt like that bouquet of balloons was now in her belly floating up toward her chest at the mere thought of contact.

He was clearly en route for a brush of the cheek, but somehow her wires got crossed because he zigged as she zagged and before she knew it, they’d made contact.

Houston, we have a problem.Because when his mouth brushed hers, it felt as if her clothes were melting right off her body. He smiled knowingly against her lips before he pulled back.

“I can almost hear the sizzle from the heat,” Tasha’s voice broke the moment. “It just goes to prove that finding love doesn’t have to follow a conventional path. For more on Evie and Jonah’s journey be sure to follow her @You’veGotMale.”

Tasha stopped recording and Evie said, “Thank you for the, uh, shout-out. That was nice of you.”

“My pleasure,” Tasha said. “You let me interrupt your day, it was the least I can do.”

Tasha blew her adoring audience a kiss, which was met with cheers, then packed up her things. When she was gone, Evie turned to Jonah and Waverly immediately held out her arms.

“Uppie VeVe,” she said in her sweet little voice.

Evie pulled Waverly into her arms and gave her a big smack to the cheek, then blew a raspberry there. Waverly erupted into giggles.

“Cookie.” It wasn’t a question. She was issuing an order, which made Evie laugh.

“It’s up to your dad.” She glanced over at Jonah, who waslooking back with the strangest expression on his face. He just kept silently looking at her. “Jonah?”

“What?” He blinked.

“Can she have a cookie?”

He flashed a flirty smile as if something deeper hadn’t just passed between them. “Only one.”

They walked to the counter and Jonah followed. She grabbed a cookie from the jar and handed it to Waverly, who mashed it into her mouth, spilling crumbs all over Evie. She didn’t care, the little girl was too cute to care about a few crumbs on her uniform.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Jonah.

“Fulfilling my beardly duties,” he said with a smile. But Evie’s smile turned brittle.

He hadn’t come for her—he’d come because of their arrangement. Tit for tat. Even steven. Which was what she wanted. Right?

“How did you even know about it?”

“Your mom may have called me this morning to tell me about the interview,” he said. “But the real question is, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I know you’re busy looking for a new job, working on your yard, and with your family.”

“Okay. Now for the real reason.”

Evie sighed. They’d agreed that being straightforward was the best route. “I wasn’t sure what to say about last week and so I’ve been avoiding you.”

“I noticed,” he said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

No. No she did not.

He must have seen the horror on her face because his expression flashed with disappointment. Something in her stomach pinched painfully.

“We have to talk about it sometime,” he said quietly.

“Maybe when we’re not in public.”

“Then we’ll have to find some private time that’s just the two of us.”

That sounded even more dangerous than talking about it in an environment whereitcouldn’t happen again. “I guess I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on the same page.”

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