Page 89 of Mr. Wrong Number

“Well.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Now I wish I hadn’t been quite so forthcoming with mine.”

He tilted his head and laid on the gas, making me smile as that slinky little car moved forward like it’d been shot out of a cannon. He said, “Okay, well, remember when you got kicked out of the dorms?”

“I still have nightmares about those fire sprinklers.” I turned in my seat and said, “Wait—did you think I was hot when you came over for dinner?”

“Settle your ass down.” He grinned at me and then looked back at the road. “When I came over to your house for dinner, there were two things about you that I’ve always remembered. One, college turned you into the most incredible smart-ass. You finally had a comeback for all the shit I threw your way.”

“Ooh, sexy.”

He chuckled, knowing I was disappointed. “The second thing was that you rolled your eyes after literally everything I said.”

“You seriously don’t haveanylittle confessions about finding me hot?”

He laughed again and I could tell I’d cheered him up—he thought this was hilarious. But I couldn’t believe he’d never once looked at me sideways. He explained, “I thought your eyes were very green when you rolled them. And you had the longest eyelashes.”

“Stop. I don’t need your compliment charity.”

He gave me a whole minute of silence before saying, “So you’ve spent all these years picturing me asleep in my underwear.”

“You wish,” I said, mortified.

“You literally said those words, Livvie.”

“Says you.”

“What is happening here?” He laughed out the words, and I was a little shocked to realize that going on a date with Colin wasreallyfun. We morphed into our usual banter until we exited the interstate, and then he got quiet. When he finally pulled in the underground garage and drove into his spot, he said, “Listen. About this thing we’re doing.”

“I’m not moving in with you, Colin,” I teased. “We’ve already done that, and I need my space.”

He ignored my joke completely and said, “Regardless of how casual it is, we’re seeing each other exclusively, yes?”

“Um... are you asking or telling?” I honestly didn’t know what his answer would be, but he seemed intense about it and that made me feel... I don’t know... some kind of way.

“You went on a date the other night.” He put the Audi in first gear before letting out the clutch and pulling up the emergency brake.

“Well, that wasn’t adatedate,” I fumbled, feeling guilty about Mr. Wrong Number. “And we weren’t—”

“I know.” He looked over at me, and I saw his jaws clench slightly. “But I didn’t like it.”

My heart kicked up as his eyes pulled me in. He’d been jealous? Over me? I tucked my hair behind my ears and said, “I’d never even met—”

“I didn’t like it.” The smell of his cologne found its way to my nose and filled me with hot memories of his skin as he looked into my eyes.

“Well.” I cleared my throat, shaken by whatever the hell was happening, and said, “Let’s agree to be exclusive until we’re done with this, then.”

His lips curved into a smile, but it didn’t hit his eyes. “You always have to add the ‘until it’s over,’ don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Fine.” He turned off the car and opened his door. “Little shit.”

That made me laugh again, and as we stepped into the elevator, I grabbed his hand and slid my fingers between his. That made him look down at me in surprise, and his face was so sweet I kind of thought I was going to melt.

The second the elevator doors closed, Colin’s mouth was on mine and he slammed my body against the wall with his. Not hard enough to hurt me, but deliberate enough to make me instantly weak in the knees. His big hands held my face, his fingers partially in my hair as his mouth did its thing.

Sweet holy heaven, I was defenseless.

His hard body pressed against me and I dug my hands into his hair, needing as I breathed him, tasted him, felt him in every nerve ending in my body.

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