Page 73 of The Final Faceoff
I blink, suddenly too hot, too aware, too everything. “Fix what?”
“You,” he says simply. “And your needs.”
Oh.
Oh.
My thoughts tangle, slipping through my grasp like sand, impossible to hold onto. Heat curls through me, slow and relentless, sinking deep, making it hard to breathe. My pulse kicks hard, a silent answer to something I don’t fully understand yet.
I should say something. I should laugh it off, turn away, pretend this moment isn’t pressing itself into my skin. But the way he’s looking at me—calm, certain, like he already knows how this will end—leaves me no room to hide.
“You can’t think this will work out,” I suddenly find my excuse. “I’m a poor judge of character who can’t be with anyone. You know my dating track record.”
“It’s because you don’t know what you want,” he says with a cocky grin.
“And you think I want you?”
“Nope, but . . . and hear me out before you push me,” he warns me. “We date . . . but skip the nonsense of your four dates before sex.”
“What?” I squeak.
“Date with benefits,” he supplies smoothly. “I take care of your body. You take care of my battered heart—because it has to survive without your love. No complications.”
I stare at him. “That sounds like the definition of a complication.”
He shrugs. “Only if you make it one.”
I bite my lip, every inch of me screaming yes, yes, yes, while my rational brain tries to keep up.
This is dangerous.
This is reckless.
But somehow I know that this is exactly what I need.
I exhale sharply, shaking my head. “I don’t like you right now.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t,” I confirm.
His fingers brush my thigh, his grin slow, knowing. “So is that a yes?”
I groan. “Yes.”
His eyes darken. “We should start now, because something tells me you’re already wet for me, aren’t you, baby?”
And just like that—we’re screwed.
And I don’t even care.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Hailey
Leading the Line
Leif doesn’t waste time.
