Page 48 of Whisper Of Attraction (Whisper Lake 3)

The tears that had welled over Jess’s breakfast in bed, sprang back to her bottom lids. Brynn wasn’t one to feel sorry for herself, but she’d had three drinks and she was a lightweight.

She couldn’t believe how hung up she’d gotten on a man that had paid her no attention and made no attempt to get to know her. Tonight may not have been the Axel-free night she’d wanted, but it was definitely Axel-gut-check night.

He’d been at the bar the entire night and had made no effort to speak to her.

She wiped the tears that were falling down her cheeks from beneath her eyes. She was crying over a guy that she barely knew not talking to her. It was time to call it a night.

With more determination than ever to put Axel out of her mind, she shifted in her seat to stand. When she did, she was faced with a broad chest that unlike Liam’s smile, touch, or voice, had every part of her body tingling with anticipation. Anticipation for something that would never happen.

Her eyes lifted and she felt a flush rise up her cheeks as her gaze drifted past Axel’s kissable mouth. His perfect lips were surrounded by a stubble that made her inner walls clench at the thought of what his prickly hair would feel like brushing against her skin. Preferably the skin of her inner thighs.

She cleared her throat and did her best to push down the graphic images that sprung to her mind. Images of the top of his head buried between her legs. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was met with his deep brown gaze boring into her soul.

“Hey!” Her voice was high as if she were surprised to see him.

“Are you okay?” His deep timbre vibrated through her.

“Um…in general, or…?” She wanted her response to sound casual and unaffected, but instead her words were shaky and breathless.

“You’re crying.” Her words might be trembling but his were strung tight as a drum.

“Oh, that.” She smiled and wiped her cheeks with the cocktail napkin Liam had given her. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

“What’s wrong?”

The genuine concern in his tone sent her heart diving straight off of Swoon Cliff. But her good sense acted as a bungee cord and snapped that sucker right back into place. He was just being neighborly.

“Nothing.” She smiled brightly.

The look in his whiskey gaze made it clear he wasn’t buying her flippant response or forced grin.

“Really,” she did her best to assure him.

There was no way she was going to tell him that she was crying over him. Especially knowing that at any second he’d make some excuse to leave, just like every other time. She decided that this time she would walk away first. It might be a small step, but it was one she needed to take.

“Well, it was nice seeing you.” She started to walk past him when she felt his fingers brush the back of her hand.

It was the lightest touch but she felt it rush through her with the force of a tornado. She froze in her tracks. Her heart was pounding in her head as arousal and awareness flooded her senses. Why couldn’t Liam, or Chris, or Keaton, or Sam or any other eligible man in Whisper Lake have this kind of effect on her?

“Do you want to dance?”

The sound of his voice cut through the arousal whooshing around in her head, but she was sure that she must have heard him wrong.

Her eyes cut up to his. “What?”

“Do you want to dance?”

This time she heard him loud and clear.

All night, she’d watched people on the dance floor and wished that she was out there. Wished that this exact moment would happen, that Axel would come over and ask her to dance.

But he hadn’t. Not until he’d seen her crying. He was a sweet guy, but that was even more of a reason for her to protect herself.

No. Say no!her inner voice screamed trying to protect her from the inevitable pain she would feel after the dance when he ignored her again. But instead of heeding the warning, she took a cue from Axel and ignored it.

“Sure.”

The left corner of his lips turned up in a lopsided grin that was so sexy it should be registered as a lethal weapon. He rested his palm on her lower back and the heat of his touch spread through her like a wildfire. She felt it everywhere from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

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