Page 21 of Off-Limits Mate

“Try me,” he says.

I laugh. “Fine.”

Two glasses in hand, both of which are pretty healthy pours, I turn back to him. I sit at the kitchen table and eye Jasper over my glass. He takes his and chugs it.

“Wow,” I say, taking a sip. “It’s impressive because it’s really bad wine.”

Jasper coughs. “Damn right. What is that?”

“Nolan bought it for me.”

“Did Nolan try it?”

“Nope.” I sip again. “He doesn’t drink wine.”

“So he bought it…”

“Because it was on sale.”

Jasper grimaces. “And I think I know why.”

I laugh but take another drink. “It gets the job done, though.”

“What job did you need it to do tonight?”

His voice is so low. So incredibly, tantalizingly low.

I look at him. His eyes are dark right now. Dark enough that they’re no longer gray, but almost black. It makes my skin feel like it’s on fire.

“I just needed to take the edge off.”

“What edge, Amara?”

The edge I’ve been on ever since I thought about kissing you yesterday. “Finding my super embarrassing pictures from when I was a kid, for one.”

His lips twitch slightly at the corners. “I told you I thought it was flattering.”

“Yeah. Well. Clearly not that flattering.”

He tilts his head. “Why not?”

“Because you didn’t…” I pause.

Jasper’s eyes are focused on my lips. “I didn’t what, Amara?”

You didn’t kiss me.

It’s not the wine. I haven’t had enough of it. It’s not anything except an urge that I can’t control whatsoever. I’m just as shocked as Jasper when I whisper the words that are floating around my head.

“You didn’t kiss me.”

Jasper’s eyes flick up to mine, and he holds my gaze for a minute. Then he responds. “I thought you had a crush on me. Past tense.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Amara…”

I gulp. I take another sip of the wine.

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