Page 19 of Catching Mr. Right

Why am I? Why does her interest in older men bother me so much? Maybe because relationships with huge age gaps aren’t meant to work out, and then people get hurt. They fall in love without realizing how complicated things will get when one’s ready to settle down and the other isn’t because they’re only just discovering themselves. I scrub a hand up the back of my neck and exhale. “Maybe because I have more experience when it comes to relationships than you and Summer do, and I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal of it though. Especially since we’re not talking about someone you’re dating. Summer’s relationship, and mine, aren’t the same as your experience.” She peers at me, her eyes widening. “Unless you’re telling me the age gap isn’t as big a deal to you after all.”

“Okay, you got me. I haven’t had the exact same experience as you.” I put my hands up in surrender. If she doesn’t want to listen that’s her business. Not mine. In the same way that her long golden legs shouldn’t be my preoccupation. The way her sports bra melds to her perky tits is also not on my agenda.

Okay, no one believes that. I have a dick. I notice.

I just don’t want to.

“But someone has to keep an eye out for you or you’re likely to get yourself into trouble. And that guy.” I fling my arm out, not in any particular direction. “That guy is taking advantage of your naivety.”

Mandy stares at me for a moment. Straight faced, her lips slightly parted. A pleasing blush fills her cheeks and the area across the top of her breasts above the line of her top, probably from the running. “You think I’m naïve? You think I don’t know what I’m doing?”

“No, I don’t.” I scrub a hand through my hair, bring it away damp with sweat. “I think you have no clue, which is why you’re wishy washy and after men who, let’s face it, want things you aren’t ready for.”

“Like what?” she says, staring me down. Those green eyes are daring me to speak only truth. I tread closer to her, and yeah, it’s not such a smart move. Is that black cherry, patchouli, and salt I can smell? Holy shit, it’s mouth watering. “Because my virginity isn’t on the table, so you can’t be worried about my virtue.”

I gape at her. “Your virginity? You think I’m talking about sex?”

And now I am. Thinking about it too. Thinking about her crushed between me and one of the oak tree trunks behind us. The rough bark, my rough hands, her satiny skin. Soft glossy lips. Her, breathy and moaning.

“I’m talking about life experience, about whether you have things in common, whether you really want to find yourself barefoot in some man’s kitchen and popping out babies when you could be out partying, and travelling, and enjoying everything life has to offer.”

“Cas isn’t like that,” she says, furrowing her brow. “He’s not thinking about that kind of thing. He can barely handle having me in the kitchen in the first place.”

“Of course he is.” I capture her wrist, wrap my fingers around her slim arm. I need to make her understand that he isn’t right for her.

For a moment she drops her gaze to where I’m holding her, then she looks me dead in the eye. “Are you sure we’re talking about Cas?”

“Yes. Who else would we be talking about?”

Oh shit. Way to go, jackass. She’s going to say I’m talking about myself. I’m not.I’m truly not. Just because I know what that creep is thinking doesn’t mean anything.

“You.” Thick eyelashes flutter against golden skin, and my dick does what it’s been doing so well since I got to Reverence and jumps to attention. “You actually do like me, don’t you?”

“Nope. That’s not it.” I release her wrist and go to take a step back.

She doesn’t let me. Moving closer, she holds my attention with one hand running down my sticky chest. “You’re jealous I chose Cas.”

“You didn’t choose him.” I throw the words at her, pushing into her touch. It feels damn good, a trail of fire on my hot skin. So does her ponytail, when I twist the damp, silky tendrils in my fist. Her hip is perfect in my grasp, that spot beneath her earlobe satiny soft under my lips. “You didn’t choose that sleaze. The only reason you’re with him is because I told you I didn’t want you.”

Her breath hitches. Her jaw moves as she swallows. I swear her scent becomes muskier. My gut tightens with the urge to slip my mouth to her lips. Her voice wobbles though she tries to hide it. “And now you’re jealous.”

Me? Jealous? Envious that she’s with some other guy? Hell yeah. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I ran into them at the ice cream shop over a week ago. I skim my lips across her cheek toward her mouth. “Maybe. A little bit.”

She shoves her palms into my chest as I go to kiss her. Pushes me away until no part of me is touching her. Shaking her head, she puts her fingers to her lips. Is she thinking about how close we came to kissing? Then she takes off up the track, calling out over her shoulder, “I’m with Cas now. I’m not going to kiss other guys behind his back just because you’re a little jealous.”

So she’s serious about him? She’s done with me? Why does that piss me off more than all her come ons did? Worse, I reacted like I planned on doing something about the situation. Does she think I would have kissed her? Did I really admit her being with another guy makes me jealous? Because it doesn’t. Not one iota. Not at all.

I’m only looking out for her best interests, and that isn’t Casper Morgan. So what if pink lips and green eyes make my mouth water. Who cares if this past year, in my head, she’s spent more nights in my bed than any flesh and bone woman? I cup my hands to my mouth and yell, “I’m not jealous. I wasn’t trying to kiss you.”

Nope, I really wasn’t going to kiss her. I don’t want to taste her mouth or wrap my arms around her or see what she’d do if she knew how hard she got me. When she rounds the corner out of sight, I turn and head back toward the hotel. I have enough to keep me occupied. There’s the restaurant to get up and running, and I need to work out how I’m going to handle the Claudia thing. Mandy is a pointless distraction. One I’m not going to do anything about. Let Casper Morgan have her.

But maybe I’ll have a quick word with Summer about talking to her friend about the men she dates.

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