Page 36 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

He blinked, and in that one swish of the eyelashes, his brown eyes seemed to fill with tears. “What if I get my memories back and realize I’m horrible?”

Her chest clenched as if she were feeling his worries right along with him. This had to be a common one for amnesiac patients: fearing who they really were, wondering if they’d even like themselves.

“You’re not.” She kissed his cheek, even though her mind went back to his parents’ trailer, taking in the contempt in the father’s eyes. What kind of person did you have to be to make your own father despise you? Then again, Ted Abbott hadn’t exactly been the kind of person she would seek out for a character reference.

It didn’t really matter what Jonah had been like before. Right now, he was one of the most amazing people she’d ever met. He made her pulse race and, despite how gorgeous he was, he’d eased her nerves enough that she could open up to him and be herself.

He wasn’t a bad person.

“Seriously,” she teased, rubbing her nose against his. “Would I date a jerk?”

He studied her a moment before giving a reluctant smile. Interlacing his fingers with hers, he tipped their foreheads together. “I just want to be good enough to deserve you.”

Tess had no clue how to respond to that. To her, she wasn’t good enough for him. She was the one lying.

She was still wondering what to say when her stomach growled. Tess bit her lip, hoping he didn’t hear. But, dang it, Jonah arched an eyebrow.

“Either you’re hungry or your stomach just told me it wanted some personal space.”

It definitely didn’t want personal space. “I haven’t eaten since lunch,” she admitted, and she waved her hand to signal that it was no big deal. “But it’s fine. I’m just one of those people who doesn’t miss a meal…if you can’t tell.”

A scowl lit her fake boyfriend’s face as if she’d offended him. “No. I can’t tell,” he growled. “You’re so tiny I’d say you need to eat more meals.”

She sniffed. “I’m short. But I wouldn’t exactly call myself tiny.”

An ornery grin lit his face just before he smoothed his hand around to grasp her bottom and squeeze gently. She gasped, and his smile only grew.

“If you’re talking about this, I feel the need to state that men prefer a little curve to their women. And you are curved—” his hand wandered over to the next cheek “—to perfection.”

No one had ever been so free with her body. She knew Jonah didn’t know any better—he probably thought they did things like this all the time—but his boldness kind of turned her on. Okay, fine. It really turned her on, like, a lot.

“I’ll make you a deal.” His eyes sparkled as he grinned and kept stroking her bottom. “For every fact you tell me about yourself, I’ll share one of my beloved French fries with you. That way, you won’t have to starve, and I’ll still get to know you better.”

She nodded, tickled he still wanted to learn more about her. “But what should I give you for every fact you share about yourself?”

His face went briefly shuttered. “But I don’t know any facts about myself. Remember?”

Waving her hand, she rolled her eyes. “I meant about your new self.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You can always have an opinion about something, whether you have memories or not.” When an idea hit her, she grinned. “For instance. You can have an opinion of whether you prefer kisses on the cheek…” She paused to set her lips softly against his scruffy start of a beard. “Or on the lips.”

When their mouths touched, he made a growling sound in the back of his throat. “Lips,” he said against hers. “Definitely the lips.”

She grinned. “I thought so.”

He cupped her face so he could kiss her some more. “I also have an opinion of where I most like you to touch me.”

Tess rolled her eyes. And here returned frisky Jonah. “Let me guess.” She lowered her hand to his lap and pressed it against his ever-present bulge.

He sucked in a breath. “Damn, you know me too well.”

Biting her lip, she watched him grit his teeth and close his eyes as she stroked the length of him, learning his shape.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It probably wasn’t all that bold of a move comparatively speaking, what with the blanket and his hospital gown separating them from direct contact. But this was as bold as she’d ever gotten with any man, going where no Tess had ever gone before. Her heart thumped like mad in her chest, and her breaths sawed a little faster through her lungs.

“I kind of like touching you here too.”

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