Page 51 of Fighting Fate

Distracting herself, before she threw herself at him, Katie turned toward the wall of built-in bookshelves. The row at her eye level was lined with anatomy, biology, and other medical sciences books.

"Are you pre-med?" she asked picking out one of the anatomy books, three inches thick, and thumbing through it.

Isaac stood behind her. His body, still steaming from his shower, warmed her back. "Sort of. I'm going for my doctor of physical therapy in the fall." She felt his chest against her back as he reached around and put the book back on the shelf. "Was that your first question?" When he brought his hand back from the shelf, he hooked her shoulder and turned her to look at him.

"Depends. How many do I get?"

He looped his finger under the strap of her tank top, rubbed the fabric between his fingers. "Well? How many pieces of clothing did you take from me?"

"Five? But I would have taken them all if you hadn't chickened out."

He pulled the strap an inch from her shoulder before letting it go and it snapped lightly back into place. "I did not chicken out. I was being responsible."

"Sure." She made sure to lay the sarcasm on extra thick so he couldn't miss it.

"Fine. You would have taken all six pieces of clothing, you get six questions but the one about my major counts as the first."

Katie's mouth dropped open. "Not fair."

"Fair enough since you didn't actually take all six pieces."

Katie shrugged. She didn't really care how many questions she got, she only really had one.

???

Butterflies swam in Isaac's stomach waiting for Katie to ask her first question. What if she asked him what he thought they were doing here? What if she made him admit how much he really cared for her just to tell him he was an idiot for feeling that way because she never would?

Then she asked a question he didn't quite understand. "Did you mean what you said last night?"

Isaac cocked his head to one side. "What did I say?"

"You know what you said. And remember, you have to answer honestly."

He'd said a lot of things last night. A number of them after she'd been too drunk to remember. But the things he'd said when she was drunk, about her drive, her nature, her unbelievable sex appeal, were the only things that made sense for her to question now.

"You remember all of that?" he asked.

"Did you mean it?"

She had him cornered. He had to answer honestly and face her inevitable rejection. "Yes."

"And did you mean it when you said you wanted me?"

"Yes." His breath came shorter. Quicker.

"This sucks. I…" she started then stopped swallowing hard as she turned her eyes toward the floor.

Here it comes.The end.

She went on, "I wish this week didn't have to end."

Isaac's heart soared. That's not what he'd expected at all.

"I wish I didn't have my project to finish. That we didn't have finals to worry about."

Was she trying to tell him she wanted this to last? That she knew it wouldn't be easy but it was what she wanted?

He moved closer to her cupping her chin and cheek in his hand.

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