Page 25 of Meet Me in the Vines
“Hey, talk to me?” I say with a gentleness, and when her eyes open, I catch a glimpse of that glimmer.
There’s my girl.
She reaches up and gently takes my hands away from her face, and I immediately miss her warmth under my touch.
“Talk, huh? You did always talk a big game, Donovan King.”
There’s a spark in her eyes. Her tone is almost playful, flirtatious even.
Holy fuck. Is she flirting with me right now?
She stares at my mouth as she licks her delicious, pouty lips. Her hands snake up my chest, sending me straight to heaven. I feel like I’m about to pass out.
“I, uh, I—” I stutter. She has me tongue-tied, my mouth bobbing open like a fish out of water. I swallow hard, my breath hitching as she pins me in place with her siren eyes.
What the fuck is she doing to me?
Her gaze fixates on my lips like she wants to devour me, her hands hold steady on my chest.
“I have a boyfriend, you know. You shouldn’t be following me.” Her tone is still playful as she grips my shirt and pulls me closer, her lips just inches from mine.
So it’s true? She has a boyfriend. It should sting, but it doesn’t. Not even a little. Probably because her hands are on my body and she’s licking her lips like she’s wondering how I taste after all these years.
“I. Don’t. Care,” I growl, keeping my voice low, barely above a whisper. I reach out and grip her waist, my hands buzzing from the contact. Our faces are so close, just one tilt forward and my lips will be on hers.
A blur of movement. A searing pulse of sudden pain. Can’t. Breathe. No air.
Fucking hell.
Audrey Winthrop kneed me right in the balls. I double over, letting out a loud groan and a strained laugh. My hands cup my balls through my jeans, pleading for the ache to stop.
There’s my minx.
“Think again. Now leave,” she fumes, turning on her heel.
I let out a pained laugh as the nausea from her knee to my nuts subsides and fight to stand upright as she walks away. I probably shouldn’t do this, but…
“It’s really good to see you, Mouse,” I tease, grinning playfully.
She freezes with one hand on the door handle. Her head turns, putting the dainty profile of her face directly in my line of sight. Her chest rises and falls in big, deep breaths. Her jaw clenches for a moment, then softens. I can hear her exhale while she swipes her coffee from the roof of her car. She slips into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut.
Just as I think she’s about to drive off, our eyes meet in her side-view mirror. A subtle upward curl forms on her lips, and in that fleeting moment, I’m back in the game.
Audrey is home, and this time, I’m not stopping until I win back her heart.
Chapter Eight
AUDREY
My hands grip the steering wheel so hard I’m afraid it will crumble beneath me. I rest my forehead on the top of the wheel and let out a breath.Mouse. The audacity to call me that nickname with that stupid, beautiful grin on his gorgeous face.
The worst part is it made me smile. I’m almost sure he saw it, too. Damn him. I guess I started it by flirting with him. I couldn’t help myself. Kellan and I never joke or play. It’s always rough sex and business. It’s different with Donovan, and it terrifies me.
My breath hitched when he touched my face and wiped my tears. I had forgotten what it was like to be touched so gently, so delicately, like I might break beneath his hands.
And he justhadto age like fine wine. Couldn’t he have gotten a beer gut and stained teeth? Instead, he had grown out of his baby face and right into a chiseled jaw covered with irresistible stubble—not yet a full beard, but a little more than a shadow. His muscles were more formed, firmer, bigger. I felt it when my hands touched his rock-hard chest. Heat floods between my legs just thinking about it.
That sexy, dimple-forming grin still makes me buckle at the knees. I remember making him smile that night, tracing my tongue up and down his sun-kissed olive skin.
