Page 30 of Ruthless Rose

Chapter 19

I’m sitting at a table in the coffee shop waiting on Micah again, sipping at the small hot chocolate I’d gotten myself while working on my AP Physics homework. I’d already helped Micah work on his assignment for Spanish class in the ten minutes Señora Martinez had given at the end of class, so we should really only have to worry about going over whatever they are learning in his physics class.

I turn my focus to my own physics homework, pushing all other thoughts out of my head. After a while, I recognize that I’m getting frustrated because what I thought was the right way to approach the problem isn’t working like I thought it should. I curse under my breath, stopping as my pencil tip snaps under the force of my writing.

“What’s the matter? Grogu doesn’t like you sitting on his face?” The husky whispered question near my ear almost jolts me out of my seat.

I pivot, sucking in my breath as what Micah said clicks in my brain. He’s bent at the waist, and we’re eye to eye. His tongue darts out to wet his lips, and my eyes follow. A smirk settles on his face, probably assuming I have no comeback. Or maybe that I’m too shy to say anything now that he’s implied he knows what I could possibly be wearing underneath my skirt.

“Well, Grogu definitely won’t like it if you make me wet myself, so don’t sneak up on me next time.”

He chokes on his laughter but quickly recovers, nodding. “Right. But I like the idea of me making you wet again. Maybe we should go somewhere private so you can sit on my face instead.”

My jaw drops open, and I pull my legs tightly together. “That’s not what I—”

Micah’s finger slides lightly down the back of my neck. “Not what you meant? It’s okay. But you can totally admit I have you all kinds of turned on right now.” His voice is low and raspy, and it’s doing things to all the parts of me he’d left buzzing with excitement in the bookstacks. In response to my thoughts, my core pulses, reminding me of every single delicious moment with him.

I blink twice and then steer the conversation somewhere I’m more comfortable. “Do you have things for us to work on today?”

“Fun Daphne is gone for the moment, huh?”

My lips twitch. “Just trying to be responsible.”

“Fine. We’ll do the work now. Science experiments later.”

I roll my eyes, but my nerves jangle in question. What could he possibly have in mind? We’re in a coffee shop, for Pete’s sake.

An hour later, the coffee shop has emptied out until we’re the only ones left, and our study session has devolved into arguing about why Star Wars makes a mockery of all the laws of physics as we know them—my opinion, not Micah’s. It’s not that I don’t still love the whole franchise … I just happen to be more aware of how physics works than the average moviegoer, I guess.

The whole time we’ve sat together, whether we’ve been studying, debating, joking around, or a mix of the three, the gears in my mind have been turning. I still don’t understand him. At times, he’s been downright hateful to me. And at others, like right now, he’s funny and sweet. It’s utterly confusing and makes me wonder which is the real Micah. And I’m really nervous that I’m considering what it would be like to find out.

Unsure of what I really want, I also wonder if I could be completely misreading him. Alora said Micah told her all about the last time I geeked out like this in front of him. I can’t help but think she’s wrong about how he truly feels. Maybe he tells her what he thinks she wants to hear to get her off his back. I raggedly inhale and focus again on our argument.

“Daphne, I swear, if you don’t stop ruining my favorite movies of all time, I’m going to be forced to take action.”

“Well, it just makes logical sense that the Death Star exploding in space wouldn’t make a sound.” I shrug, loving that I’m getting him all riled up.

He growls at me like a bear. “Nope. Stop.”

“What?” I put on my most innocent face. “Sound requires air—or some other medium—to travel. If you have no air, then there’s no sound. So, why would there have been some big explosive noise when it blew up? They totally screwed that up.” I shrug my shoulders at him, knowing he’s about to lose it.

I don’t know why it surprises me when Micah lunges out of his chair, grabs me by the waist, and tosses me over his shoulder. I shriek as I’m practically turned upside down nearly six feet in the air. One of his big hands grips the back of my thigh, the other is clamped firmly on my ass. I shout, “Space is a near perfect vacuum, so there’s no sound. All the pew-pews of your TIE Fighters couldn’t really have happened!”

He grumbles, turning me this way and that. “Seriously, Daphne. Zip it.” He walks over to the counter where Kendra is watching our antics with mild amusement. “Kendra, tell her she’s being ridiculous.” He turns his back to her so I can see her when I strain to look up.

My fists are full of his T-shirt, and I have a great view of his ass from here. I hold on tightly as I laugh, gasping out, “Kendra, tell him that the Star Wars starships would have been mostly silent if they’d obeyed the basic rules of physics!” I can’t stop the giggles while tears stream from my eyes. “Lemme down, you big jackass!” I don’t even think twice before I swat his firm ass.

Kendra rests her arms on the counter, crossing them as she observes us, her lips pursed in mock seriousness. “I don’t know, Micah. She seems to be pretty sure of herself.”

He groans. “No, no, no! Not you, too.” He spins around, and I shriek some more.

“Behave yourselves, would you? I’m going to get some of the muffins for the morning crowd into the oven. Be right back.” Kendra leaves us alone in the front of the shop.

Micah spins me around again.

“Oh my God, I’m going to throw up my hot chocolate all over your back if you don’t put me down.” Thank goodness there is no one else in the coffee shop to witness this.

That’s enough to make him think twice. He shifts me in his arms, and I slide right down the front of every tantalizing inch of him. His chest is rock hard, all of his muscles flexing because he doesn’t quite let me get to the floor. I’m suspended by the band of his arms, which are wrapped around my middle.

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