Page 10 of The Hookup
“Why’s he still calling me?” she asked, provocatively, laying a hand on her chest and watching his gaze lower.Because he knows I’ll come running.That was the obvious answer. Instead she said, “He’s obviously not over me.”
“I can see that. Someone like you probably wouldn’t be so easy to get over.”
A guy wouldn’t say anything like that if he wasn’t interested. She widened her smile and held it there, waiting for him to mirror it and confirm his interest. “You’re saying all the right things,” she told him when the smile didn’t materialize. She leaned forwards slightly, forcing her breathing to calm down.
This man was interested, but he seemed to be fighting it. He was holding back, and given that he wasn’t coupled, unless he’d lied to her earlier, or that he was gay—something which her gut told her he wasn’t, there was no reason for him to hold back.
He was also holy freaking gorgeous.
How the hell had she not noticed him before? Piercing blue eyes, broad shoulders, and tattoos on muscled arms. He filled out his black t-shirt well. She would go to bed with happy thoughts tonight, recalling it.
“It’s my job.”
“Oh.” His answer yanked her back to reality. “I mean,” he placed his forearms down on the bar top again. “You get to know people.” This time his head was once again level with hers. With his face so near, she forgot to breathe. He stared at her, his cool, unhurried gaze, raking over her, playing with her. Flirting and teasing, yet without words.
Freaking hell.
“I bet you get to know a lot of people,” she murmured, forgetting how to breathe just then. She was vaguely conscious that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and that her pebbled nipples might give her excitement away.
“Maybe.” He cupped his chin as if he was thinking it over. “It becomes second nature, being able to read people, and get a vibe from them.”
She nodded, only because the fog in her brain prevented her from saying anything. He gave her the once over and she instinctively sat up taller, straightening her posture and thrusting her chest out just enough to pull his attention there. His penetrating gaze set off a chain reaction—and the beating of her heart competed with the throbbing between her legs for the most beats per minute.
“What’s your read on me?” she asked, “Seeing that you’ve been eyeing me up all night.” Her boldness pushed Savannah’s sensible advice into the gutter.
He covered his mouth with his finger, and she couldn’t work out if he was laughing at her, or with her. But at least he hadn’t denied that he’d been eyeing her up.
“You sure you can take it?” he asked, those cool blue eyes burning into her.
“I can take anything you give me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he replied. His response, with its subtle challenge, sent shivers scampering along her chest and stomach. She let out a breathless, “Try me.”
She wished he would.
“You’re not a wallflower, I would say.”
“I shouldn’t tell you this but my nickname used to be Good-Time-Kay.”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“I like to party,” she said, dismissing any other notions he might have. He had no idea how stressful her job was, and therefore would never understand her need to have fun when she was out. “Go on,” she said, eager to hear more. “What else?”
“You dress to …impress.”
“To impress?” she grinned. “You’re being polite. You should say what you mean. I can take it.”
“For attention, then,” he replied, accepting her challenge, yet his gaze didn’t lower, as she had hoped. Their gazes locked for a long, sexy, unspoken moment that stretched out into the night. It was a million times sexier than him looking her up and down.
“Maybe,” she conceded.
“And tonight, you seem sad.” He lifted his head, looked over her shoulder, towards the dance floor, then back at her again. “Because you’re alone, and you’re happy for Savannah, but seeing it all in your face is too much.”
“You’re freaking good,” she breathed, unaccustomed to a man who she had barely known, being able to see right through her.
“And this ex is hassling you because he knows he can have you at his beck and call.”
“Uh, well,” she murmured, taken aback because she hadn’t yet met a man who could see past her outer exterior, and this man she barely knew, seemed to reach inside and know all there was to know about her. The sadness over Xavier's treatment of her, and her irritation over her mother's comments flew right out of her head.
