Page 9 of Blindsided

Something in Tilly’s eyes heats at my words, but she blinks it away. She makes grabby hands toward me. “I’ll be good, I promise. Gimme.”

I laugh and pretend like I didn’t see what I saw. “I’ll just have to trust you.” I set the plate in front of her and then grab her a fork from the drawer.

As she hums through her bites of food, I make another omelet for myself. When it’s done, I plate it up and sit next to her at the island.

“I can see why your omelets are famous. Thank you for making breakfast.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do after accidentally groping you.”

Tilly chokes on her bite of food, swallowing hard to clear the blockage. She takes a sip of coffee and then clears her throat. “Horrible timing, Matty. Jesus.”

I laugh. “Sorry.”

“And just to put this subject to bed, I truly didn’t mind. Like I said, it’s not the first time I’ve woken up to a guy getting handsy, and while I didn’t get a happy ending, it’s not a horrible way to wake up, if I’m being honest. You’re not the ugliest guy around.” She winks.

I scoff to cover my irrational anger at the idea of some douche nozzle’s hands all over Tilly. “I’m the hottest guy you know.”

“Matty.” She looks at me like I’m pathetic. “I’m a model. I work with male models all the time.”

My mouth drops open at her implication. Then Tilly’s face cracks, and she starts to giggle.

“You little brat!” I reach over and tickle her ribs in retaliation. She squeals, jumping off the bar stool and squirming away from my fingers. I chase her around the island as she tries to escape me. She’s fast, but my legs are longer, and I’m able to snatch her around the middle. In the process, we crash down to the wood floor with a thump.

I keep tickling her, holding her down like I used to when she was little. “Take it back.”

“Matty, stop!”

“Not until you say the words.”

“Fine,” she squeals. “You’re the hottest guy I know.”

“Victory!” I shout. Then I kiss her nose before letting her up. Her eyes are bright, the laughter chasing away the last few shadows her stalker left behind. I feel like I’m standing on top of the world, knowing I was the one to do that for her.

“If this is the treatment I’m gonna get, maybe I’ll go stay at my parents’ house.” She squints her eyes at me, but the smirk curling her lips ruins the effect.

I pull her toward me with my arm around her shoulders. “You’d be bored and back here within a day.”

Tilly hugs me around my waist, and I ignore how good she feels in my arms. “Does that mean I can stay here for a few days? I fly to London on Thursday.”

“You can stay as long as you want to.” With a kiss on the top of her head, I shove her away. “Now, let me finish my breakfast so I can throw it up again after a seven-mile run.”

CHAPTER5

Tilly

Isip my coffee, keeping my eyes on my e-reader. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but my book is too good to take my eyes off the page. The main characters are enemies, and they’re about to give in to their attraction. Nothing could stop me from reading that.

“Whatcha reading?” Matthew’s voice comes from over my shoulder. I jump, my coffee sloshing in the cup and my e-reader falling into my lap.

“Dammit, Matthew. It’s a good thing I’m about done with my coffee.”

“Mm-hmm.” He smirks.

I narrow my eyes. “How long have you been reading over my shoulder?”

“Long enough to know you read porn.” His grin would put the Cheshire cat to shame.

“It is not porn! It’s romance and emotions. Do those things lead to sex? Sure, but even if it was more sex than romance, there is nothing wrong with that.”

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