Page 26 of Forget

‘What do you think?’ She asked.

He heard the uncertainty in her voice, as if she couldn’t get a read on his mood. ‘I think I should’ve braved the cool quadrangle years ago if this is what happened every morning.’

She didn’t look at him, so in an effort to reassure her, he placed a fingertip under her chin and gently swivelled her face towards him. ‘And I’m not talking about those incredible burgers, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

He took a breath and blew it out. ‘It’s being here with you.’

There. He’d said it and the quadrangle hadn’t caved and the centuries-old stone building still stood.

But he knew he’d made a mistake being honest the second her gaze met his, because what he saw in her eyes sent a tremor of terror through him.

Expectation.

Hope.

A yearning for more than he could ever give.

12

Jayda had madea mistake bringing Brock to the quadrangle and she knew it when he made a grand show of patting his pocket where his phone was and fishing it out to glance at the screen before blurting, ‘I have to go. Urgent job.’

She knew the second he admitted he liked being here with her that he’d use some lame excuse to bolt. The moment the words tripped from his lips she glimpsed wariness warring with fear in his eyes. He’d said too much. He’d admitted to enjoying her company. Flings didn’t do that.

She’d been an idiot. Because after spending an amazing twelve hours together she’d done what she’d always done her entire life.

Put too much faith in people.

‘Of course you have to go,’ she said, keeping her tone deliberately cool. ‘Go do what you have to do.’

He hesitated, sliding the phone back into his pocket but unable to meet her eyes. ‘Breakfast was great. Thanks.’

‘It was your shout.’ She shrugged, as if it meant little, when wanting to have breakfast here at dawn had been a silly, whimsical notion from a well-sated woman. A woman sobamboozled by Brock that she would’ve done or said anything to prolong their time together.

Silly, considering they’d already agreed to hook up for sex regularly over the next two weeks, but making a decision to keep things casual and staying awake all damn night because he was insatiable and incredibly skilled…well, she’d been understandably flustered.

He ducked down to whisper in her ear, ‘Seemed only fair, considering I made you shout all night.’

Heat flushed her skin and she gritted her teeth against the urge to lean into him. If she did that, she’d never let him go.

‘What do you want me to do? Announce to the quadrangle you’re a brilliant lover?’

He laughed at her sarcasm and it dissipated some of the tension between them. His familiarity rattled her, that they’d only reconnected last night through phenomenal sex but he seemed to know her better than she knew herself when it came to pleasure. He knew her sensitive spots—the backs of her knees, the dip in her hip, the juncture between her collarbones—as if he’d committed them to memory.

But it was more than remembering those spots and she knew it. It was as if he could reallyseeher and he liked what he saw.

Maybe that was what made the sex so special, that he looked at her as if she were a goddess to be worshipped. His adoration of her body lowered her inhibitions and helped her to enjoy sex in a way she’d never thought possible.

‘I’m comfortable with my performance, but if you feel the need to announce my vindication to the world, go right ahead.’

He straightened and she instantly missed his warmth. An awkward silence stretched between them, making her wish she hadn’t dredged up nostalgic memories by inviting him to eat here.

His admission about liking her in the past floored her and it made her wonder: if they’d hooked up in uni, would it have been different between them?

‘Can I ask you something?’

The shutters descended as he carefully blanked his expression. ‘Yeah, but then I really have to go.’

Of course he did. Admitting they had a connection beyond physical had scared the crap out of him. In which case, what she had to ask would really push him over the edge.

---