Page 48 of Drawn to You

“This is how you do it, isn’t it?”

“Do what?”

“Charm women even though you’re an annoying asshole.”

Her tone is light and I know what she’s really doing—trying to deflect my compliments. She’s self-deprecating, always turning compliments into jokes.

I won’t stop until she acknowledges what I’m saying, even if I have to compliment every part of her until I reach her cuticles.

“You even make pajama shorts look sexy with those legs and that ass.”

She scoffs. “Are you buttering me up because you have bad news? You might as well just come out with it.”

I gently brush the hair away from her face. “I snuck a picture of you during our practice date. You were talking to our server. I look at it so much I’ve got it memorized. Your pretty pink lips and your neck drive me fucking crazy. Your hair was over your shoulder and I wanted to kiss your neck so badly, you have no idea. I could see almost half of your breasts in that dress.”

Her eyes are locked onto mine. She gives my hand the tiniest little squeeze.

“I’m not letting Lucas lay a hand on you,” I say.

“Is celibacy part of my job description now?” she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Until you realize how much you want me it is.”

Her lips curve up in a small smile. “You do realize you’re going on a date with another woman tomorrow in Chicago.”

“Only because you want me to.”

“Have you seen pictures of her? You may end up liking her.”

Aggravation flares in my chest. Why can’t she just acknowledge there’s something between us? I don’t totally understand what it is, but I know I want to fuck her and get the hell away from her as quickly as possible at the same time.

“I already like someone else. And you should see her. She’s got this hot, curvy body that makes me insane.”

I put my hand on her hip, my thumb brushing over the skin exposed by her shirt riding up slightly. Her lips part and her brows pinch together with concern.

“What’s there to be worried about right now, Nosy?”

She moves my hand away and tugs her shirt down. “You’re used to playing with people. Women are expendable to you. You don’t get it. If you and I got involved, you’d be tired of me in what, three weeks? If that? I’d just be one of many notches in your bedpost, and I’d be fired from my job over it.”

I hate that she thinks so little of me. I haven’t even looked at other women since meeting her, and still she doesn’t believe my interest in her is sincere.

“What have I done to make you feel like you’d be a notch on a bedpost?”

She sighs softly. “The whole reason I’m here is because you can’t control yourself. Whether it’s alcohol or women, you just...go overboard.”

“It’s not that I can’t control myself; it’s that I’ve chosen not to. I work hard and don’t see why I shouldn’t get to play hard, too.”

I can tell she’s suppressing an eye roll. “Yourplayingis what landed you a full-time babysitter, Dane.”

“A hot babysitter. I’m not mad about it.”

She laughs lightly. “You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Never. When I want something, I never quit.”

I run the backs of my fingers over her jawline, the only touch she seems comfortable with. Even though I’ve spent more time with her than I’ve ever spent with a woman, I never get tired of her.

“We should go back downstairs,” she says softly.

---