Page 53 of Hypnotized By Love

“What do you know about my taste in women?” Mason asked, and it made me pause. All of my friends in high school had harbored a crush on him, but he hadn’t dated any of them seriously. He had taken a girl out here and there—no girlfriends, though.

I knew nothing about what he looked for in a woman now.

It bothered me that I didn’t know something so fundamental about him.

He flagged Romeo down and asked him for the check. When he returned, I reached for it, but Mason kept it out of my grasp.

Which wasn’t hard, considering how bad my fine motor skills currently were.

“For the record, that’s two dates,” he said as he left some twenty-dollar bills with the check.

“Who carries cash?” I asked him.

“People in a hurry,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”

I tried to stand up, but my legs weren’t cooperating. I wobbled dangerously, and Mason was there, grabbing me by the elbows to keep me upright.

“Whoa. I got you, Sinclair.”

Electricity zinged along my nervous system, lighting up every nerve ending that I possessed just because he was holding me. My skin felt flushed and prickly, oversensitized. If he moved his hands at all along my heated skin, I was probably going to spontaneously combust.

Instead he gripped my elbows tightly. I heard his breath hitch, saw his jaw clench.

“Hold on a second,” I told him, putting my hands against his chest. Was it my drunken imagination, or was his heart beating faster?

“I’ll hold whatever you like,” he murmured, his gaze settling on my lips.

If I was this excited by him barely touching me, what would it be like if we kissed? Blood pulsed in my ears, blocking out the sounds of the restaurant.

His good looks really were his superpower, and I felt helpless to resist. “You and your tequila eyes,” I said with a shake of my head.

“My what?” he asked.

No time to explain when there were better things we could be doing with our mouths than using them to make words.

“I think at the end of our second date, I would do this,” I said softly. He looked adorably confused for a second, not registering what I was about to do.

I moved closer to him so that my chest pressed against his and slid my hands up to his neck. He made a sound at the back of his throat that turned my knees to jelly. My lips tingled in anticipation, wanting nothing more than to feel his mouth on mine. I saw the want in his eyes, felt the pull of desire low in my stomach. I pushed myself forward with the intention of kissing him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, and his voice sounded strained but excited.

“You know what I’m doing.” I breathed the words against his lips as I moved closer.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, my heart thudding slowly in my chest, the anticipation ratcheting up with each shared breath between us.

And just as I was about to make contact ...

He moved his head out of the way.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

His rejection was sharp and fierce, and I hadn’t ever felt more stupid. I immediately pulled my hands away and stepped back, leaning against the bar. This was what happened when you had a twin sister and a best friend who constantly lied to you. You believed the fairy tales they tried to sell you.

Mason Beckett was not interested in me, as he’d just proved by rejecting me.

Not able to leave well enough alone, I had to make the situation worse by asking a question he’d already answered. “You don’t want to kiss me?”

“There is nothing I want more,” he said, his voice rough and shaking, like he could barely contain himself. His hands were still at my elbows, still gripping me tightly. “Right now you can’t consent to it.”

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