Page 57 of Blindsided By You

“Not for me, thanks,” I say. “Better stick to just the one. Need to cut back on my drinking now the season’s on us.”

I glance Jenna’s way, hoping she’ll read the invitation in the subtle raise of my brows, as I prepare to slug down the last of my drink, bringing the glass to my lips.

“Me neither, hun,” Jenna says. “I’m going to head off. I’ve got a client I need to do some stuff for. Best I don’t keep him waiting.” Then she winks at me.

She fucking winks.

I almost choke on the whisky and am rewarded with a smirk from Jenna as she rises from her chair, leaving me wiping away the last splattered drops from my mouth, although, behind the back of my hand, I’m smiling too.

Chapter 30

JENNA

“ThethingsIdofor you.” Geordie’s chest beneath me relaxes in a sigh as he leans down to brush a kiss on the top of my head.

“You didn’t seem to be complaining a few minutes ago,” I huff against the sweat-damp curls of his hair plastered against my still overheated cheek, as my fingers lazily circle one very erect honey-coloured nipple. “The things you were doing for me seemed to have some pretty obvious benefits for you, too.” I can’t help my mouth from curving into a satisfied smile.

My thighs tingle at the thought of Geordie between them. I can still feel the sensation of his length buried inside me, his cries matching my own as we moved together in rhythm, the words ‘Yes, yes’ echoing in the air. The friction of his hips against my clit pushed me to a second, overwhelming orgasm, just moments before he collapsed against me, breathless, sweaty, and completely spent.

“Not that,” his laughter rumbles through me. “I’d never complain about our mutually beneficial workouts.” I can hear the smile in his voice, but the words erase my own.

Mutually beneficial workouts. That’s what I asked for and that’s what I get. As it becomes harder and harder to push down my feelings for Geordie, I regret this agreement to the point where it ties my stomach in knots every time I think about it. Especially since I stopped fooling myself that it’s anything more than my response to his likeability, and our compatibility between the sheets.

To begin with, I tried to justify it as simply me allowing the fact he’s my favourite person in Cluanie—one of the few people in this town who I’m really comfortable with—to colour my feelings. That self-deception didn’t last long.

In my work I can put a PR spin on almost anything, sell half-truths or even outright lies with a confidence that has me believing them too. Unfortunately, you can’t lie to yourself. I am falling for Geordie MacDonald. Hard.

While I make a living extracting people from disasters of their own making, I’m totally clueless when it comes to finding a way out of my own. Not when I see such longing in his eyes and chide myself for being so selfish to even start this with him.

Already, we’ve both run roughshod over the rules we put in place to prevent this happening. I’ve let him fall for me too, when that’s the worst thing he could ever do. Because when you fall, there’s always got to be a landing, and when that landing is finding out who I really am, it’s going to hurt both of us.

In this Goldilocks tale, he will discover I am the girl who is both too much and not enough, and realise he needs someone who is just right. When I watch him walk away, as eventually he will, it’s going to smash my heart into a million pieces, but he won’t get away unscathed. I hate the pain it will cause him because he’s so kind and decent. Unlike Adam, Geordie understands he canhurt me, and he won’t want to, but in the end he’ll also understand that he needs to—because I’m not for him.

“Are you going to admit that was pretty good, or are you just going to pretend all those ‘Oh Gods’ were some kind of come to Jesus moment?”

“Yes,” I mumble. “I love doing this with you.”

“Good. So do I, and no, I wasn’t talking about giving you orgasms, sweetheart. I meant joining the fucking pub quiz team.”

“You didn’t have to, not for me.” I sit up, glad of the change of subject while schooling my mouth into a mock pout for his benefit. “You could have said no, although I admit Lexie did a pretty hard sell.”

“What? And let you head down to The Railway on your own every Tuesday night? Fuck off.”

“I wouldn’t have been on my own,” I fire back. “Not in a whole bar full of people.”

“And that’s exactly why I had to join the team. Too many people. Too manysingle malepeople, in fact.”

“Geordie. You don’t trust me, huh? We agreed this is exclusive, right? Or is the deal off? Did someone catch your eye? One of those pretty girls swarming the club rooms?” I tease.

This is the part of our agreement I don’t regret. If I’m screwed up now, it’s nothing compared to what I’d be if he was seeing other people. I’m only going to have Geordie for a short time, so there’s no way I want to share.

“Yes, this is exclusive, sweet,” he reassures. “It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s all those other bastards who want to hit on you.”

“You do know someone’s going to be onto us, with you sitting there glaring at every man who comes within a foot of me like you did last night?”

The man grows teeth and claws if anyone other than Nathan approaches. Damn it, he was even a little frosty with Connor squeezed in the booth next to me, and he knows Connor could never be more than an old friend. I’ve told Geordie outright. I love the man to bits, but there’s no spark between Connor and me; never has been, never will be.

“Ten feet,” he scowls. “And even that’s too close.”

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