Page 42 of Impulsive Saint
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” She smiled and if he was the kind of man to wax poetic, he’d have compared the sparkle in her eyes to the stars in the sky.
“You should.” He took another step away from her when she inched closer again. “That’s exactly how I meant it.”
“Careful, Tyler. I might actually start thinking you like me.”
He snorted, “I do like you, Ashtyn. If I didn’t like you, I’d have left you on the side of the road in Arkansas that first night when you got drunk and played grab-ass with me.”
“I couldn’t help myself. It’s a nice ass.” She smirked.
“So you’ve told me, more than once.”
“Bears repeating.” She shrugged, “In fact, I think you’ve got a pretty nice everything if we’re being completely honest.”
He swallowed hard at the glint in her eyes, “Complete honesty? I don’t think we should be talking about that at all.”
“Oh come on, Ty. You can admit that you liked what you saw tonight too.”
“I could, but I shouldn’t.”
Ashtyn blew at a damp hair clinging to her face, “Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Story of my life. But I thought you were braver than that.”
“It’s not about being brave.” He inched backwards until he collided with the side of the pool, with nowhere else to go he met her twinkling blue eyes and shook his head. “You want honesty? Fine. I do like you, Ashtyn. You’ve proven me wrong about you in so many ways I’ve lost count. You’re not a princess. You’re not at all what I imagined you’d be when I agreed to this trip. You’re strong and smart and determined and I respect the hell out of you for going after what you want.”
She blinked at him slowly, shock registering on her face, “Wow. Thank you.”
“It’s just the truth.” He shrugged.
“Maybe, but not many people in my life have ever called me strong or determined so…” She trailed off and he winced.
“You are strong, Ashtyn. A weak person never could have done what you did when you left that church. A weak person would have stayed, would have gone on making everyone else happy even if it made her miserable, but you’re not that girl. The more I get to know you, the more I get to see you come out of your shell and take chances and be bold, the more I like you.”
She looked thoughtful, treading water, and when she looked back up at him, he could see something serious in her gaze, “You make it easy.”
He raised an eyebrow so that she would continue because he had no idea what she was talking about.
“You make it easy for me to take chances and be bold because I know I can count on you to be there if I fall.” she admitted. “I may not have known you for very long, Tyler, but I know you’re a good man and that I can count on you.”
He tried not to snort, “You’re definitely the first person in my life to ever say that.”
“I know you mentioned before that your family doesn’t take you seriously, that they don’t think you’re serious enough or dependable enough, but they’re wrong.” She moved closer again, eyes still on his. “They’re wrong about you just like mine is wrong about me.”
“Maybe you just bring out the best in me.”
She smiled, soft and sweet, “I like hearing that because I think you bring out the best in me too.”
“We make a good pair.” he tried to sound nonchalant but with her coming closer and closer, he wasn’t feeling calm at all. “I’m glad we decided to be friends.”
“Friends.” she repeated the word but the way she bit her lip made it sound like something else entirely.
When she moved forward again, towards him, almost into his personal space, he knew that he had to put a stop to this. She was flirting with him. He’d known she was flirting with him and he’d gone along with it because talking to her was so damn easy. He liked her but he couldn’t let this happen.
“Ashtyn.” he used a warning tone. “Stay where you are.”
“Why?” She smiled at him coyly.
“If you come any closer, I’ll be able to see you through the water.”
“You’ve already seen me. Remember?” She paddled closer and he swallowed hard.
