Page 72 of Ablaze

I gasp, now seeing him in a completely new light. “You’re sick in the head.”

He chuckles. “I guess we’ll both be going to the same doctor, then.”

More movement in front of us has Dean putting the car back into drive. We trail the other cars slowly, but the visibility is still terrible.

I know there’s an exit about two miles ahead where we can get food and gas, but at this rate, I’m not sure how long it will take to get there.

I see Dean eyeing my profile, his large hand–the one wearing the matching leather strap I have on mine–still wrapped around the steering wheel.

His teeth scrape across his lip and one of his blondish-brown brows hitches up. “Well? I showed you mine, now show me yours.”

Heat rises to my cheeks like a brush fire at the insinuation of his words. In fact, the car turns just a tad warmer, despite the freezing temperatures outside. His piercing gaze makes me squirm, and I try to come up with something quick before he turns me into a puddle. “I accidentally put dog treats inside the human treats glass case and didn’t realize it until they were half-gone.”

“Most of your dog treats taste better than the human treats, anyway. What’s wrong with that? Plus, it’s not like you ever use ingredients that either type of customer can’t eat.”

I punch his arm, but he doesn't budge. “That sort of sounded like an insult to my human treats.”

“It wasn’t. But also, that wasn’t even close to as embarrassing as mine, so I call a do-over. Now give me something real.”

I pull my lip into my mouth.

I can’t.

I can’t give him that one.

It would change everything. It’s too . . . I press my hands to my face when I see his eyes on me again. Dean can read me like no one else can, so I’m hoping if he can’t see the lie written all over my face, he’ll just let it go.

“I’m trying to think,” I mumble from behind my hands.

His warm hand wraps around my wrist, sending another zing of electricity rushing up my arm. He pulls my hand down, despite me trying to keep it there. “Look at me.”

I shake my head, feeling the blush creep into my cheeks again. “I can’t.”

“Mala. Look. At. Me.”

I do reluctantly and immediately wish I hadn’t. His eyes are pinned to my lips before they slowly dip down to my neck, the rise and fall of my chest . . . my breasts. I’ve seen him eye my ass and breasts before, but never like this. I always thought it was an instinctual thing that men just do, even if they were your best friend.

But this . . . This feels different. This feels intentional, not instinctual.

“Tell me,” he commands gruffly.

I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. And whether it’s his command or his deliberate perusal of me, I’ll never know, but something emboldens me to speak.

“The only times I climaxed while I was with Warren was when I thought of you.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

MALA

Yup, I’ve made everything weird. Torched my friendship on my way out of town.

Just fucking fabulous.

My gut kept telling me not to do it. In my heart I knew, I just knew, I shouldn’t have. But what did I do? The opposite.

And now I’ve ruined the closest friendship I’ve ever had.

Dean hasn’t said a word in the past fifteen minutes that we’ve been driving, albeit still slowly, and I haven’t had the guts to ask him what he’s thinking.

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