Page 35 of Accidentally Mine
I ran a hand through my hair.“Your ex?”
Her head turned downward, and she nodded.“He was not a nice person.To me.He…I don’t really like to talk about him.And I don’t date anymore, because of it.”
She seemed genuinely remorseful, but the letdown stung.
Fuck that man.I wanted to rip his head off, for the sole reason that he wasn’t fit to breathe air.“There’s a special corner of hell for the man who thinks he can lay a hand on a woman,” I ground out, the muscle in my jaw popping with each word.“If a man so much as laid an unwanted finger on my sister, I’d rip him a new one.”
She raised her head, a surprised expression on her face as she continued to chew on her lip.“But not only that.I’m only in town for a little while.I’m leaving soon.And…I can’t come back.”
I can’t come back.Not, “I don’t want to come back” or “I won’t come back,” but “Ican’tcome back.”
I wanted to ask what she meant, but she was clearly upset enough as it was.I dug through the picnic basket and tossed a chocolate muffin over to her.“All right.Don’t let this go to waste then.You won’t be able to get these once you’re gone.”
She put her hands over her stomach, which flattened her t-shirt against her body and only accented her beautiful breasts.I tried not to linger on the way the v-neck bared her cleavage.“I’m stuffed.I’m not sure I could eat one more, but it sure looks yummy.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a quarter.“Heads you do, tails you don’t.”I flipped it into the air, caught it, smacked it on the back of my hand.She was watching me like I was crazy as I lifted my hand to check it.“Heads.Bon appetit.”I unwrapped the muffin and placed it in front of her.“When destiny pushes you in a certain way, you can’t argue.”
She watched me carefully.“Do you make all your decisions with a flip of a coin?”
“A lot of them.The important ones, anyway.”I winked and flipped the coin in the air, caught it and covered it.“Should Roselynn see me again?Heads for yes, tails for no.”
Her eyes sparked, and she let out a shuddery breath, watching intently.
I lifted my hand and revealed the answer.
Heads.
Her expression revealed that she might’ve been more than a little glad about that.
“So what if you’re leaving,” I said, watching her lovely face.“We can get together once more.”
She sucked in a breath, staring at the coin, clearly contemplating her response.
“Don’t fight fate, Rebel,” I said and placed the coin in her hand.“You’re not going to win.”
8
Roselynn
My head told me to push him away.
Problem was, pretty much the rest of my body wanted to pull him closer.Maybe I was just as horny as Aunt Marie.Because when Brent was around, I was far from that good girl.I was the Rebel he kept calling me.And he knew it.
He probably even knew that I wanted to tackle him on my aunt’s tiny front lawn, even with all the neighbors watching.
This wasnotgood.I needed to control myself.
Fear and excitement swirled in my stomach.I hadn’t been with a guy in years.And I’d definitely never been with a guy who made me feel this way, like a horny beast.It was thrilling and electric and…
Wrong.So wrong.I.Had.To.Leave.
But here I was, surrounded by chocolate and freaking candles and little china mugs with the best coffee I’d ever had, staring into the eyes of a guy who definitely did things to my body.For the first time in years, I felt happy.
So I kept saying to myself, one more minute.Just one more minute.Until I’d been there with him for two hours, and I’d nearly cleared out every piece of chocolate he had in the basket.
We’d gradually been creeping closer to each other.I felt drunk and giddy.All those earlier lies I’d told him, about being here for school and not being from around here, he must have realized they weren’t true.After our conversation about fate, I’d told him that my roommate in college was a palm reader and had taught me a little about what she knew.
He sounded interested, as he shifted toward me, lying on his side, propped up on one elbow.I was sitting beside his head, on the incline, so that there wasn’t much space between us.“And what did she teach you?”
