Page 13 of Ruck Me

My eyes flicked between his, taking in the worried frown that tugged at his eyebrows. “I did and I won’t. But you teaching me what a guy likes is just as bad an idea so I’m calling itoff.”

“Why?”

I scoffed. Why? I had a thousand reasons why. “How many reasons do youwant?”

“Give me one good one to start.”

“Okay, forstarters, on the way over I realized that in order for you to … teach me things … well, it wouldn’t just be theoretical stuff, would it? We’d have to touch each other and at some point you’d probably have to kissme.”

“I would,” he agreed, his eyes dropping to mylips.

Trying not to let his gaze unnerve me, I soldiered on. “And you said it yourself—you don’t want me like that. You only volunteered because you thought that was the only way to keep me from going to Kevin. But since I’ve promised I won’t do that, we can just forget the whole thing. Pretend none of this ever happened.”

“You could do that?” he asked, his voice pitched low and gravelly.

“Sure,” I replied with fake nonchalance.

The truth was, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forget the sight of Eoin’s bare chest. In fact, it was an image that would feature prominently in all my forthcoming fantasies.

“What if I said I couldn’t? What if I don’t want to forget?” he whispered, his lips hovering dangerously close tomine.

Ah shit. Why’d he go there?I closed my eyes and stifled my frustrated moan. If he hadn’t just said that, I’d be able to march out of here right now and pretend the things I’d been feeling were one sided, that our attraction was all in my head. But now that he’d shattered that notion, my curiosity wouldn’t be silenced.

As if it had a mind of its own, my traitorous body eased forward, diminishing the scant space that separated us. We were so close I could feel his breath on my lips, could smell the tangy hops of the beer he’d been drinking.

“That’s it,” he whispered, the sound coaxing me forward. “Do what you do best, Aoife.”

And so Idid.

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