Which only lifted her tits up like she was displaying them on a shelf for him. The movement tugged her shirt down, exposing the soft curves of her boobs while simultaneously pushing them together, making them look even bigger.
He wiped his hand over his mouth. Swallowed. And forced his eyes to meet hers.
“I’ve seen them with you.”
“Please. Those two times you were with me when Miles was there, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with me.”
Maybe not, but it was clear the cop was crazy about her.
If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been so worried that she’d been alone with Reed.
“Three times,” he corrected. “He and your other brother were at Patton’s wedding.”
The other brother, a heavily inked hipster with glasses, had told Reed to stay away from Verity after he’d asked her to dance.
After she’d said no.
And when she’d finally agreed, only after Reed had reminded her that she owed him for helping get her car out of that ditch, the cop hadn’t stopped her. He’d trusted her to make her own decision.
“They don’t hate you,” he said. “Trust me. I can tell.”
She made a scoffing sound that went straight to his gut. “Sure. I’ll trust you. After all, you’ve only ever been so open and honest with me. Please tell me how, after three brief encounters, you’ve become such an expert about my brothers.”
“I’m not an expert on them,” he said, unable to stop the words that came out next. “I’m an expert on you.”
Chapter 25
It was another mistake. Another slip he couldn’t afford to make.
Another truth that had her going silent with shock, her eyes wide with confusion.
But fuck it. He couldn’t let her think she’d been some burden.
“You’re not exactly hard to read,” he continued, relentlessly heading toward his own doom.
He let his gaze take in every aspect of her face, the slight, upturned angle of her nose, those freckles he wanted to trace with his tongue, the loose tendrils of hair curling at her temple that glowed like fire under the midday sun.
“Everything about you is clear as fucking day. You are exactly what you seem. A smart girl. A spoiled girl. A good girl.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, her cheeks once more going pink, her eyes going hazy.
His head went back with realization, his own breath locked in his chest.
She liked being called a good girl.
He was in hell.
“I don’t have to know a goddamn thing about your brothers,” he said. “Not when it’s clear you’ve never lacked for anything. You’ve been taken care of every day of your life. You’ve been loved every single day of your life.”
Her eyes once again filled with tears.
This girl was going to kill him.
“I just… I’m not so sure,” she said, speaking slowly, as if choosing her words carefully, when usually she spouted off whatever thought entered her head, “going to OSU is such a good idea.”
“Because you don’t know if you want to be a vet?”
“Because it’s not here!”