Page 62 of Power Play

His eyebrows went up and then his mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me?” he mouthed at me.

“Stop it,” I said and snatched the book out of his hands. I could feel my face get so hot my head was probably steaming.

“You’re going to read this in front of Tess? In front of me?”

“You’re not funny,” I snapped. I was about to put it back on the table with the rest of the summer blockbusters, but Liam plucked it out of my hands and added it to the stack that was being cashed out. “You don’t have to do that,” I said, feeling mulish and embarrassed.

“I want to do that,” he said, his voice low. Intimate. “This isn’t about me paying for your books. Got that? It’s a gift. Because I really, really want to watch you read that book.”

I’d been putting that stupid kiss stipulation out of my head all day, but now, with his scent in my nose, it was fully occupying my brain. He wanted to watch me get turned on reading a romance novel about a hockey player with a filthy mouth and pierced penis.

How in the world was I going to survive this vacation? Honestly.

The books were bagged up and Tess asked if she could hold the bird book. Liam handed it to her and then led our way outof the bookstore. We were like little ducks following our massive dad duck.

“You hungry?” I asked the two of them as we stepped out into the fragrant warm mid-day sun.

“Yes!” Tess said.

“I could eat,” Liam said, leading us across the grass to the trucks.

“So,” Liam said as we crossed the street to the pretty park with green grass and orange and pink day lilies planted on the edges. “About this book?”

“The bird book?” I asked, putting my glasses over my eyes.

“No. The romance novel.”

“What about it?” I asked. He stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop. Tess was ahead of us, standing in the shade, reading.

“Do you read them and get off?” he whispered, his eyes on my mouth.

“That’s very private information,” I said.

“You’re right,” he said. “But I’m curious. Did I just buy you something that’s going to make you touch yourself?”

My breath caught in the back of my throat. A sudden vivid image of Liam watching me while I touched myself. Me watching Liam while he touched himself. It was sensory overload.

“Can I borrow it when you’re done?” he asked.

“Why?” So he could make stupid jokes? No thanks.

He got close then, so close that I could feel his breath on the shell of my ear. It felt like his voice was making my body purr. “So I can get off on what gets you off.”

Holy crap, my knees buckled. I caught myself before basically swooning in his arms.

“I think that’s a bad idea,” I managed to say.

“Really? I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever had,” he said. I couldn’t help but stare at his mouth, those choir boy lips. Helicked them, like he was getting them wet for me and I had to swallow a needy little moan that crept out of my throat.

His eyes flared and narrowed like he was zoning in on me. Like I was prey and he was about to give chase. It didn’t matter that Tess was a few feet behind him engrossed in a bird book, or that we were surrounded by twenty strangers in the middle of an adorable town.

If he kissed me now, I’d let him.

If he kissed me now, I’d kiss him back.

“Fuck, Kit,” he breathed. “You feel it too. Don’t you? You’re killing me.”

“Is this a joke?” A man shouted behind Liam.

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