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His tongue presses down on his bottom lip as he contemplates me. “I used to. I spent all of high school and the first three years of college playing both fields. But then I realized something.”
Okay, I’ll bite. “What did you realize?”
“One day I woke up and I was just...over it. Nothing meant anything anymore. All I was doing was making myself feel miserable. Depressed. Lonely as fuck. Because none of them were the one I was looking for.”
And you are.
It’s hanging in the air between us with all its surreal outlandishness.
But I’m not quite ready to let it touch me. It’s too new. Too unbelievable. Too bright with possibilities that might kill me with both pleasure at pain, probably at the same time. “That’s tough.”
He smiles at my response. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?”
“That I can’t know already. That I’m crazy. That I’m telling you what you want to hear.”
“I do think you’re crazy. And I don’t think you can know already. I’m not even sure what it is you think…you know.”
“I knew the second I saw you.”
I glance over at him, then lightly roll my eyes. “What did you know?”
He’s all masculine lines and vivid colors, with his eyes almost violet against the sunset. I kind of love that he’s got layers. There’s a deepness to him, but it’s spliced by a playful sense of humor that’s melting all my inhibitions. “That you were the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Ever. Anywhere.”
This stops me for a few seconds. “So it’s…the way I look?” I wish I hadn’t said that. Now I feel awkward. I’m a girl who spends most of my time in overalls and sneakers, hair pulled up, no make-up, lost in my own headspace of art swirls and junglescapes. It’s true I’ve hidden away for a lot of the past few years, so I haven’t had much exposure to this kind of thing. But I never thought “the way I look” is something that would stop a guy in his tracks, especially a guy as hot as this one.
He’s grinning at me and I’m in awe again, that anyone can be this good-looking. This kind of bone structure should be illegal. “That’s part of it,” he confirms, his voice husked with both amusement and sincerity. “You’re a jaw-dropping, heart-stopping kind of beautiful. But that’s not the only reason. It’s the way you move. Like your soul is dancing. And the way you blink your eyelashes at me. Underneath your shyness there’s this fun, fiery little wildcat I want to get to know. I can tell we’ll make each other happy, which isn’t something I’ve ever even thought about before. But there it was. And the shape of your mouth is just…perfection, that’s the only way to describe it. And the colors of you. Your pink lips and your eyes with all these different shades of bright green. And the way the sun catches the gold of the curls at the ends of your hair. Your cute, gorgeous angel’s face just about killed me the first time I saw it. The sound of your voice basically reached inside my chest and grabbed my heart the first time I heard it. And don’t even get me started on the rest of you.”
Just…wow. “All this…within the first ten minutes of meeting me?”
“It was more like ten seconds.”
I’d almost say he was fucking with me if he wasn’t so damn sincere about it. “Wow.”
“I knew right then that we’re destined to be together.”
I’m almost glaring, but then I huff a light laugh. This hot, buff Adonis is too much. I almost feel tempted to pinch myself. No one can be this gorgeous and this…stubborn—in a completely random direction that seems to imply that me and the superstar quarterback are somehow soul mates. “I think it’s too early to know anything along those lines, Mr. Blue-Eyes Elias O’Shea.”
“No you don’t.” That slow grin could melt the panties off a nun. And this is coming from someone whose panties have never melted before. I’ve actually never met a nun either. “You can feel it too. I can see that.” Hardly pausing, he adds, “Isla and your other two friends have already agreed to come to the game, by the way. Fully catered. Right on the fifty yard line. Best seats in the house.”
We both know Isla will drag me along to that box with her, kicking and screaming if she has to. “It’s a nice offer, thank you. I’ll see.”
Low laughter warms his husky voice and the sound touches the triangle of points he seems to have secret access to. Damn it. My nipples are almost painfully taut and sensitive. I know they’ll be clearly visible in my skimpy top. And I can almost hear my sister’s voice in my head. For some reason the nail filing emoji is right there alongside it.
Finally, girl!! For the first time in your life you’re experiencing the effects of a seriously hot beefcake who’s obviously interested in getting you naked and cashing in your V-card for you exceptionally thoroughly, possibly right here and now. Let him give you your first orgasm, Zee. Find out if he feels as good as he looks! No one else has to know.
I mentally close the door on my sister’s tirade, but I’m flustered. I can feel the blush warming my cheeks. And the light trickle of moisture on the high skin of my thigh. My short skirt and the minuscule G-string I’m wearing under it don’t feel like enough at this point.
“What are you painting?” he asks.
“A panther.”
“A panther?”
“Yes. A black panther. Rousseau is my second-favorite artist. I have a whole series of jungle-themed paintings. They’re some of my favorites.”
He gets up and walks over to where I’m standing to get a better look at the painting. Okay, he really is…tall. And sort of…amazingly…built.
