Page 89 of The Fallacy of True Love
My breath hitched as he stepped toward me. “You,” I repeated.
“You enjoyed that kiss.”
I kept my expression blank. Casual. “I liked it in the moment, but it’s nothing special.”
Leaning in until his face was level with mine, he whispered, “Liar.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. This has to be the first time you outright lied to me. That tells me something.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, hating how he seemed to see right through me. “Really? And what is that?”
“That you’re scared of how attracted you are to me.” He said the words without a trace of doubt.
My jaw dropped. “You are so full of yourself.”
“And yet you haven’t denied it. Because if you were honest like you usually are, you’d admit that you’re into me.”
“You couldn’t handle me.”
“Want to bet?”
My heart nearly pounded out of my chest. The seconds seemed to stretch into hours as I weighed a decision I knew would change everything. The safe choice was to play it off and walk away.
But then I’d always wonder if Alonzo could, in fact, handle me, or if I’d worried about nothing.
Pursing my lips, I met his eyes. “One chance.”
His eyes lit up, then narrowed with his next blink. “One night.”
“What is this, a negotiation?” That’s what I got for dealing with a future lawyer.
“Technically, that only gives me until midnight,” he murmured.
I snorted. “You think you could last that long?”
“No. But I can go again.”
The promise in his words had my core clenching. I almost told him to prove it right then. Forcing myself to appear unaffected, I said, “I’ll give you until two a.m., and that’s my final offer.”
“Deal.” He reached for me, but I stepped back.
“Forgetting something?” I nodded toward the kitchen, even though my body groaned at the delay.
“Shit,” he muttered. Breathing deeply, he dipped his head back and rubbed his palm down his face. “Right. I need to cool down anyway.”
I laughed. “You quick on the trigger?”
“With you? I can’t promise I won’t be.”
That shouldn’t have been a turn-on, but the way he stared into my eyes, then slowly, deliberately tracked his gaze down my body? It was as if he was imagining what he would do to me—and he wanted me to know it. His jaw tightened, and without a single touch, arousal coursed through me.
He shook his head and moved farther away. “Give me fifteen minutes, okay?"
Putting my phone away, I busied myself with unabashedly watching Alonzo work. I took in his every motion, admiring how his forearms and biceps flexed as he wiped tables. His coworker—who I’d forgotten was even there—came up to him. They spoke for a bit, then Alonzo nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Next thing I knew, he was heading toward me and ushering me out with a hand on the small of my back.
I frowned at him. “You’re ditching your coworker?”
