Page 43 of Best Part of Me

“We’re better friends than most friendships out there.”

Touché.

“But most friends don’t hold hands.”

“Some do.” He imprisons my smile with his mesmerizing gaze.

I’m running out of reasons why he shouldn’t hold my hand. Because I gotta admit, it feels nice. It’s the sweet side of Maverick he doesn’t show to everyone.

“We could be those friends that do,” he suggests, waggling his dark brows at me.

“Is this a friends-with-benefits situation?”

Maverick leans closer and tucks my hair back, his finger grazing the sensitive skin behind my ear. Heat fills my chest, and I hold my breath.

“Is that what you want, Sunshine?”

The need to define this thing between us is digging at me. It makes no sense because we’re not even at home. No one here knows who we are. And whatever this is, it already has an expiration date.

“Look, I just worry that we’re going to get too comfortable if we start acting like we’re in some kind of a relationship. It could make things awkward. Especially when we go back home.”

His thumb slowly traces my jawline before it skims my lips. It makes me crazy for him. My skin buzzes. How does he do that with a simple touch?

“And I don’t think we have to set any rules. If I wanna hold your hand at a restaurant or pull you into my lap at a campground, or fuck you in my Jeep, I think that’s perfectly acceptable.”

I gasp and glance over my shoulder.

“Because the way I see it is, I only have ten days with you, and I don’t want to waste them.” He releases my hand and relaxes against the bench. “But, if you have a problem with that, then I guess we do need to set some rules.”

The mention of our limited days left has my heart squeezing in my chest. He’s counting too. The idea of setting rules does sound silly now. I shake my head. “I don’t have a problem.”

He quirks a dark brow. “You sure?”

“Positive. Because you’re right. Why put rules on a good thing.”

“Just good? Because I’d say it’s better than good. To think little Camille Martin had a thing for me this whole time, and I didn’t even know it?”

My cheeks heat, and I dip my chin. “I never said I had athingfor you.”

“You never said you didn’t.”

I roll my eyes playfully. “What do you want to hear? That I’ve had a crush on you since I was thirteen? Maybe younger? That you’re the guy I’ve measured all my boyfriends to? That you were the guy I imagined when I used my vibrator in college?”Did I really just say that out loud?

His lip curls. “No shit?” he says it like a question.

I cover my face with my hands. “Don’t make me repeat that. It’s humiliating.”

He leans across the table once again, snatching both of my hands in his. “Why? I think it’s one of the sexiest things I’ve ever heard.”

The room thickens with a blanket of heat and my skin swelters. Suddenly, it’s just me and him. No clanking dishes, no scent of grease, no old folk chatter about the weather. We stare at one another, our eyes locked, exchanging words without even speaking.

“I think I’m gonna have to witness that myself.”

A lump lodges in my throat. “What?” I shriek. “Not on your life.”

“C’mon, why not? You’ve already been pretty open with me already. Did you pack your vibrator?”

“Mav,” I whisper in a hiss, “someone might hear you.” The last thing I’m going to admit is that, yes, I did pack it. Because I was going to be gone for ten days and I had no way of knowing if Maverick was letting me tag along on this road trip to simply pal around with him or if we were going to do this no-strings-attached-friends-with-benefits thing we’re doing now.

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