Page 149 of Sweet Temptation

There was a strange, awkward silence, while I felt her staring at me… and my heart tried to cough to life like a revived corpse.

I coughed.

“Are you cold?” she asked me.

“No.”

“I feel kinda bad. I’ve got all this faux fur.”

“I’m fine. I’m cold-blooded.”

“I would laugh, but I’m pretty sure you’re not joking.”

I said nothing.

“Should we put on music or something?”

“I don’t mind silence,” I told her. She knew that by now. But then I reached deep into my frozen, empty chest cavern and dug out the words. “I like it better when you’re talking to me, though.”

I could still feel her staring at me. It was like the left side off my body was thawing from a deep freeze.

I didn’t mind silence. Usually. Right now, it was kinda torture.

So I decided to fill it.

“I guess the fact that we haven’t seen a single other car out here, heading home from the party, would’ve been a clue that we were on the wrong road,” I offered. Maybe it was my way of weaseling around an actual apology. “You know, if I’d been paying attention.”

Instead of trying so hard not to pay attention to you.

“Well, since you seem unaware, I’m here to inform you,” she said. “No one leaves a party like that before dawn.”

I looked at her, and I could make out her eyes, locked on mine in the near-dark. “Except us.”

“Except us.”

“I’m sorry I got us stuck,” I said.

“I could’ve been a better navigator,” she admitted.

And as she stared at me, and I stared at her… I realized how close we really were. I realized how long we might really be here, alone.

And I realized I was in trouble.

My heart was suddenly thumping in my chest.

Actually, it was fucking pounding.

And I had a bad feeling all kinds of shit was about to fall out of my mouth without my permission.

“You’re annoyed with me,” I said.

She made a little tssht sound, like, No shit. “Ronan. The way you evacuated your hotel room this morning really pissed me off.”

“Right.” I probably should’ve said something more compassionate and useful, but my dick had stiffened when she said my name. It sent shivers down my back, like she’d just clawed me with her fingernails.

“But… it’s a lot more fun trading heated banter with you than freezing you out.” She was still looking at me, and she breathed, “Wow. You are handsome when you smile.”

I didn’t realize I was smiling. I would’ve figured those muscles in my face would’ve atrophied by now.

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