Page 17 of Something Borrowed

I swallow hard, telling my heart to be quiet, but when my eyes lock with his - those pale green pools of mystery and untold stories - it’s my mind that goes silent and my heart that beats even louder.

I look away, picking up the menu to distract myself.

What is going on with me?

This isn’t normal.

I bite my lip browsing over the menu but not reading it at all.

“I’ve ordered you a blue gin with mint and strawberry.” He is still watching me.

“You remembered.” I set the menu down and tilt my head to the side as I narrow my gaze over him.

He says nothing.

He doesn’t need to say anything for me to know what he’s thinking.

Beneath the table he reaches out and grabs the edge of my chair, dragging it around to be next to his.

His hand sends shockwaves of pleasure through me when he wraps it around my thigh.

“I’ve missed you.” He whispers, his breath hot against my cheek.

I lean towards him, goosebumps covering my body.

“I can’t stop thinking about—” I bite my words back. Telling him that is not the best way to play hard to get. Am I even trying to play at this point?

He makes me feel like every man I’ve ever looked at is just a boy compared to him. None of them could keep up with me. None of them challenged me or sparked this fire in me. He is the gasoline, and I am the match.

“I can’t stop thinking about you either.” He chuckles, picking up on my hesitation.

“I wasgoingto say that I can’t stop thinking about the amazing salmon they serve here. I have no idea whatyouare talking about.” I smirk.

“Mm. The salmon. Of course.” That half smile. Those deep dimples.

Fuck, he is fucking divine.

The afternoon sun blinks over the salty water of the yacht club and up against the crisp white and blue boats tied to their docks.

We talk. We joke. We share stories.

It’s as though we never run out of things to say to each other.

Laughter rolls off my lips and my heart slips a little deeper into him as the afternoon drifts on in a lazy stream of gin and food.

The more I get to know him the more I worry about where I am going to end up if I keep this up. I can’t stay away. I don’t want to either.

He is the gamble I shouldnottake - but the most delicious one I have ever tasted.

The alluring danger of this man, the fun enticement, and the risk I take every time the thought of him flickers through my body - it’s going to get me sent to a convent in Europe.

Day after day I meet him.

Sometimes it’s only for a moment. Five minutes together where he will push me up against a wall in the bathroom at the mall, or a restaurant or in the parking lot.

Sometimes I get away from a few hours and we can talk and spend real time together, but the fact is that every time it happens the danger increases, and my father is becoming moreand more suspicious of what I’m up to. They have assigned me a new set of personal security guards who are more intense than ever before.

The more I have to keep my distance from him the more I want him.

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