Page 38 of Ruled Out

He bites down on his bottom lip again. “Finish your sentence, Mia.”

“It’s fine. I’m just confused—that’s all.”

He steps forward and leans over me, his palm braced on the wall above my head.

My knees go weak.Oh shit, is he going to do it now?Kiss me?In so many ways, I know it’s a bad idea, but there’s not a chance I’d stop him.

“I know, Sweetheart. I am too. But I think you’ve worked out by now that I can’t stay away from you, even if I know this is a bad idea and your dad would likely kill me.”

His breath fans my face as he brings his other slightly callous palm to my cheek. “Watching you give Leo that gift and then him touch you in public when I can’t go anywhere near you—it’s like pouring gasoline on what we’ve had simmering for fucking years.”

My legs are about ready to give out from underneath me as I try to find a response.He noticed it all.“It was just a photo of the group of us. I didn’t know what else to get him for his birthday.”

He chews on the corner of his mouth. “He wants you naked and in his bed for his birthday—that’s what he wants.”

“And what do you want?” I whisper.

He presses his body into mine, eliminating the space left between us. I can feel him, what this is doing to him. “You know what I want, Mia. I wouldn’t be pulling you into dark and dingy spaces if I didn’t. What I really want is to hold your hand, take you to fancy restaurants, and show you the man I want to be for you.”

Neither of us moves an inch, waiting, willing, desperate for the other to make a move and break the tension that’s so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

But if anyone needs to make the first move, it’s him. It has to be Jessie. It’s not my career on the line, it’s not me who my dad will murder, and it’s not me with traumas that make me feel like I’m not enough.

I’m also not the one who ran away and left calls unanswered and messages on Read.

I push against his chest, and he takes a step back, diverting his focus from my eyes to the floor.

Disappointment shoots through me. It shouldn’t be this hard for two people to kiss.

Maybe we aren’t meant to be; maybe there are too many barriers between us. Whatever this is, I know I won’t be strong enough to resist him if he makes a move.

“Okay, I’ll help you tomorrow night. Just give me the address, and I’ll meet you there.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MIA

Kate and Jensen’s house is just on the edge of town and is huge and kind of spectacular in all white with a beautiful front porch.

I hand the driver cash and step out of the taxi and onto the sidewalk.

From the second I agreed to do this tonight, I’ve been nervous. I’ve seen Jessie more times than I can count, but I’ve never met Jensen and his wife, Kate; they’re all highfliers in their fields and older than me.

After I walk up the porch steps, I knock a couple of times, using the brass door knocker, and step back, waiting for someone to answer.

My stomach knots again with a mixture of excitement and anticipation.

Through the stained-glass window in the front door, I watch as a figure I know to be Jessie approaches and pulls open the door.

He smiles at me warmly. “You made it.”

In gray sweatpants and a tight-fitting white T-shirt, he looks even hotter than he did in his postgame suit last night.

“Hey,” I say, stepping into the hallway and bending down to unzip my leather boots, pulling them off my jeans.

He tracks every movement I make, not once taking his eyes off me. I know he doesn’t because I don’t take mine from his either.

As soon as I stand up straight, he wraps his arms around my smaller frame, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

---