Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“You’re all red. You’re getting very worked up,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t appreciate you insinuating that I was watching for fun like some kind of perv. You’ve made me a bit testy.”
Even if I am a little perv.
“I’m just teasing you, Emily. And I kind of like you testy. It’s a fun side to you. Incidentally, there’d be nothing wrong with that, you know—watching from the sidelines. We’re all pervs in one way or another.” His smile grew wider.
He seemed to be enjoying this situation a little too much. And that made me wonder... Not sure why it hadn’t hit me before. My eyes narrowed. “Did you call me there so I’d walk in on that?”
“Why would I do that?” His face still showed a hint of amusement.
“So I’d catch you with her?”
“Yeah. I got what you were insinuating. But why would I do that?”
I shook my head. “I’m not entirely sure, but I find it suspect that the door was open when I got there, and you don’t seem to have red eyes or a runny nose that would warrant allergy medication.”
“I didn’t leave the door open. She did.”
“You could’ve closed it. You knew I was coming to your room to deliver something.”
“Actually, I didn’t. I texted Stephen. I had no reason to believe he was going to send you. I thought you were out with Kieran, remember? Figured you weren’t even around.” His eyes pierced mine. “But to entertain your theory, let’s say I did leave the door open so you could watch. What would that make me?”
“A prick who gets off on using his sexuality to shock people.”
“And if you intentionally watched me about to have sex with someone, what would that make you?”
“There was nothing intentional about it…”
“A little voyeur is what it would make you.” He grinned mischievously. “If there’s no truth to it, why is your neck turning redder by the second, Emily?”
God. I hated that I always turned so damn red when I was flustered. Damn Irish skin.
“Are you attracted to me?” he asked.
A rush of adrenaline sliced through me. I felt exposed. And worse, I didn’t know how to deny my attraction without turning into a freaking lobster. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you seem flustered.” His voice was low, seductive. “It seems like maybe I have an effect on you. Do I?”
“Only an egotistical person would assume that.”
He held up his hand. “Guilty…”
“Why would it matter if I were attracted to you?”
“You’re dodging the question.” He inched closer, causing the hairs on my arms to prickle.
I felt ready to burst. “Of course I’m attracted to you. So is half the world. You’re extremely handsome. But that doesn’t mean I should do anything about it.”
Then I looked down and noticed something for the first time. What the hell?
“Why do you have my scrunchie around your wrist?”
CHAPTER 10
TRISTAN
Fuck.
What the hell was I thinking?
I’d forgotten to take this off earlier. Stressed to the max about the Chicago show, I’d been messing with this damn scrunchie a lot, stretching and twirling it every which way. As much as I had orchestrated some of what went down tonight, the scrunchie was a total slip-up on my part.
“It’s yours,” I admitted, as if there were any doubt.
She stared down at it. “I know. But how did you get it?”
“I walked away with it accidentally the night I visited you on the bus.”
“Why are you wearing it around your wrist? Your hair isn’t long enough to warrant that.”
I laughed, never imagining she’d consider I was using it for my hair. “I like to twist it around my fingers. Pull on it. It’s a nervous habit.”
“You’ve been corrupting my poor hair accessory all this time without my knowledge?”
Better than other things I’ve dreamed about corrupting lately. “Once again, guilty.” I looked down at it. “Honestly I didn’t realize I had it around my wrist.”
“Well…you can keep it if you enjoy it that much.” She shook her head. “Weird as it may be.”
“Thanks. But let’s get back to the subject of you being attracted to me.”
“Let’s not. Let’s instead ask what’s up with your alleged allergies. You don’t seem stuffy.”
I loved that she was calling me out. “My eyes were watering earlier,” I lied. “I wanted to take something as a precaution. Sometimes when I stay in hotels, my allergies act up. Not sure if it’s something in the cleaning shit they use or what…”
Except in this case, it was an excuse to see you.
I’d requested the meds knowing damn well they’d ask Emily to deliver them. Except after I texted Stephen, I felt really damn guilty about it. I knew she was out with Kieran and hadn’t been sure whether she was back yet. But maybe I’d wanted to interrupt. That made me a piece of shit. Kieran was Atticus’s nephew, for Christ’s sake. What kind of man tries to disrupt the date of a kid who looks up to him? But I was fucking jealous. It was the first time in my life I’d felt this way. And it would’ve been nice if the object of said jealousy wasn’t a girl practically young enough to be my daughter.