Page 6 of Tempting Him (Illicit Desires)

“Depends.”

“What on?”

“Who it is that’s asking.”

I nodded and let the conversation die right there and then. I wasn’t about to say, ‘What if I was the one asking?’. I was brave, but I wasn’t stupid. Rejection wasn’t something I wanted to face. An awkward silence settled between us.

“How’s your burn?” I asked, looking at Rich’s opposite arm.

He looked at it too and smiled. “It’s good, thanks, Nurse Liam.” He grinned.

Cheeky. Damn, that was sexy.

“You should probably let the air at it tomorrow and it’ll heal up better.”

“Will do.”

Fuck. Why couldn’t I do this? Why was I constantly bouncing from wanting him to chickening out? I sulked a little with myself and settled against his shoulder to try to watch the rest of the film.

I finishedmy beer and set the bottle on the coffee table. When I settled back against Rich’s shoulder, my phone rang again, and guilt ran through me like ice in my veins when I saw Annie’s name on the screen. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing. I was on the train to come back home, and I bumped into Declan again. He’s invited me out with him, so can we grab a rain check on meeting up tonight?”

I rolled my eyes. “Really?” I emphasised the word so she knew what I meant. “You’re funeral, babe. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Especially not with him.”

I heard the little sexy laugh she did when she was flirting and knew my comment was falling on deaf ears.

“Call you tomorrow, sweetie,” she replied in a singsong voice and hung up before she even got my reply.

Sighing, I shook my head and shoved my phone into my pocket.

“Annie again?” Rich asked.

I flopped back on the sofa with a puff. “Yeah, she’s standing me up to fuck off out with Declan. Apparently, he just happened to be on her train home from work, so I get a rain check and he gets… I dread to even think.”

Rich smirked at me.

“What?” I sulked, my annoyance at being blown off for the creepy guy who only really got into our friend circle because we got fed up of telling him to piss off.

“You sound like her dad.”

I glared at him with a small turn-up creeping in at the edges of my mouth. “Well, why are you not more pissed about this?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest in disapproval.

“Because, like you, she’s a grown adult with her own mind, and she’ll make her own choices and mistakes no matter what I tell her.”

My glance lingered on his face a little too long, trying to tell if I was reading too much into what he was saying.

Would this be a mistake? Was that what he thought of this? I tried to shake the feeling off, but somehow, the spell that had been building for the last couple of hours had been broken again.

“Only she knows what’s right for her. That’s all any of us know,” he added, and I wondered if he had read my expressions a little too well and understood what I’d been thinking.

“What if what’s right for her isn’t right for anyone else?” I asked.

“That’s still something only she can decide on.”

Suddenly, I think we both realised we weren’t talking about Annie and her choice of date for the evening. And as much as I wanted to tell Rich there was someone I wanted who wouldn’t be right for anyone else either, the moment was gone.

I let my arms slip from their place in front of my chest. “I guess I should go since she’s not coming back.”

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