Page 81 of The Love Haters

“You think I’m… ahuman hot-fudge sundae?” I asked, wondering if that might be the nicest thing I’d ever hear.

By the time I asked that question, Hutch was close enough to reach on either side of me and hold on to the railing behind, pinning me there. And then he raised his face to mine, just inches away.

And then—deliberately and slowly, so I could make no mistake about it—he nodded.

Um. Was giving myself an imaginary hug the best idea I could think of ten minutes ago?

Because this wasalso very effective.

“But—” I protested. “But you’ve been laughing at me all day.”

There was that famous frown again. “That’s not the same kind of laughing.”

“It isn’t?”

“No,” Hutch said, with conviction.

“But you…” I wasn’t sure how to say it. “Today, when you covered me up with a towel… it was like you couldn’t stand it.”

“That’s right,” Hutch said. “I couldn’t stand it.”

I took a ragged breath.

But then Hutch said, “In agoodway.”

What did that mean?

“Did you think I did that,” Hutch asked, “because I didn’t like the sight of you?”

I held very still.

“Katie, it was the opposite.”

“What does that mean? Theopposite?”

“It means I liked the sight of youtoo much.”

I kept frowning.

“The kind of laughing I was doing today,” Hutch said, “was not the kind of laughing you do to hurt someone. God, I hope you knew that.”

“I wasn’t sure what kind of laughing it was, actually.”

“It was the kind of laughing you do when you’re supposed to be testing a woman for crash readiness during a workday for your job and she strips down to a swimsuit right in front of your eyes and the sight of her somehow makes your brain stop working.”

“Your brain stopped working?”

Hutch nodded. “It did.”

“Why?”

“Because every time I’m around you—and today was the worst of all—I want…” He shook his head. “I just want…everything.”

I looked down. I’m not sure why my eyes filled up with tears again, but they did.

But Hutch ducked down again to catch my gaze and bring me back. Then he stared into my eyes. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I wasn’t sure. “What are you saying?”

---