Page 61 of No More Heartbreakers

“I don’t trust myself. To read things accurately, to know if you’re... if you’re really what you seem to be.”

“What else do you want to know? I’ve already admitted to having a number so low it could get my man card revoked.”

I gave a weak laugh. “Obviously not all guys are like Jason.”

Now I felt terrible for lumping Aric into the same category with him all this time.

He took my hand and entwined his fingers with mine.

“Listen, I get you’d have a hard time trusting someone new. I really do. But what you said is true. All guys aren’t like that.I’mnot like that. And I’m guessing this last guy—Hale—he must have been okay for you to stay with him so long.”

He paused. “I know it’ll probably take you a while to get over him.”

I shook my head. Time to come clean.

“We’ve been on a break for a while now. Hale and I—we weren’t together when I met you, when you and I kissed the first time.”

Aric’s brow furrowed. “Oh. Okay, well, that’s…”

There was a long pause, then his eyes lit up. “Good. That’s good. Because…”

“It’s not good.”

He blinked, sitting up straighter. “Oh. You still want to be with him?”

“Well, no. But I thoughthewanted to be withme, you know, like forever. And then he suggested a break. Like I said, I’m terrible at reading guys—I don’t know what to think anymore—I can’t trust my instincts.”

Aric gave me a sheepish grin. “Well, youhaveto know howIfeel about you by now—I haven’t exactly been subtle. And it’s just getting worse. I’ve never met anybody like you, Heidi. I think about you all the time.”

His eyes came up to meet mine, holding the most vulnerable expression I’d ever seen.

I stayed completely silent, trying not to hyperventilate. Trying to look normal.

Had I blinked in the past five minutes? Should I? I should blink. Normal people blinked several times a minute, didn’t they?

Was it a line?

If so, it was a damn good one, and Aric was an Oscar-caliber actor. Iwantedto believe him, but I was afraid to.

“When you kissed me today,” Aric continued. “I don’t know how it was for you, but for me, it was amazing. I seriously wanted to blow off the job right then and there and carry you away somewhere and—okay, well now I’m sounding insane.”

“No,” I whispered. “Not at all.”

How was I supposed to keep resisting this guy? My heart racing, I reached up and slipped my hand behind his neck, exerting a light pressure, pulling his face down to my level.

It was all the encouragement he needed. His lips met mine softly at first then took on more urgency as my mouth opened to welcome him.

Aric kissed me greedily, like a kid on Halloween night who’d finally been given the all-clear to dive into his Trick-or-Treat haul.

And I kissed him back, pushing aside my doubts for the moment and finally allowing myself to do what I’d wanted to for so long. My fingers came to the side of his face, stroking it as our mouths explored each other.

With a soft grunt, Aric scooped a hand under my legs and pulled me onto his lap, kissing me intently for long minutes, his hands rubbing up and down my back.

He tasted like wine and something even more appetizing. His tongue moved with mine, leisurely exploring and sparking each intimate region of my body to life as if he were flipping the switches in a circuit breaker.

A few minutes of this and I was fully electrified. I kissed him back deeply, my fingers roaming over his chest and shoulders and neck, burrowing under his hair.

After holding back for so long, touching him was intensely satisfying and maddeningly frustrating at the same time.

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