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No idea what that meant. “Looks getting in the way?”
“Looks tend to overshadow more important things like values and goals and general personality stuff. A lot of people put up with bad relationships because someone is hot or the sex is amazing. This way, you don’t focus on that. It’s removed from the equation.”
She looked embarrassed, but continued on in a gush.
“I’m trying to set an example for Willa. Let her know that what’s inside is what counts. Appearances are just a smokescreen.”
It sounded like there was something else going on here. “Why would she need to know that?”
“She sometimes gets bullied at school. She’s a bit self-conscious about her appearance.”
The idea that a lovely, amazing girl like Willa would be bullied or feel self-conscious made him furious. But it wasn’t his place. Not his family.
He returned to the dating app. “But this system is obviously not foolproof because you end up with people like Jerome. He’s clearly not leading with his seed argument on the app, otherwise you would have eliminated him from contention.”
She couldn’t disagree because of course, he was right. “Everyone talks themselves up in their profiles. But this way, you can cut through some of the surface attraction nonsense and get to the real stuff.”
The real stuff? Like it was an either-or game. Attraction or compatibility. It all sounded needlessly complicated. “For fuck’s sake, you’re gorgeous, Ashley. Why the hell are you selling yourself so short?”
Shock dilated her pupils. “I know you must be bored around here so this is a way to get your kicks?—”
He raised a hand and touched her cheek.
“Not bored. Not looking to get my kicks. I am seriously flirting with you. How can you not see that?”
She looked exasperated, but she wasn’t pulling away from his touch. If anything, she was leaning into it. Her gaze fell to his lips then away again in confusion.
“But … why?”
This woman had no clue how attractive she was. Clearly his well-crafted wordplay wasn’t enough to convince her.
He needed her to see he meant business. He wasn’t just some fly-by-night flake who didn’t mean a word he said or wasn’t prepared to put in the work, both on the ice and off. That was Dex 1.0.
New Dex had something to prove.
And it seemed the best way to do that was to kiss her.
13
Ashley
Likes: Kissing
Dislikes: How much time do you have?
Dex O’Malley was kissing her.
She had asked why he was flirting with her, not quite believing a word out of his mouth. After all, why would he do that? He was young, fit, hot, rich—all the adjectives she’d thrown at him yesterday at the coffee shop—and she’d seen online the women he dallied with. Club goers. Supermodels. Bright, young things with not a care in the world.
A man like this didn’t flirt with a woman like Ashley. A woman with weight on her shoulders. With responsibilities. And if he did, it was merely because he was looking to alleviate his boredom.
Not because he liked her.
But this was still a kiss. A gorgeous, exploratory kiss with the added bonus of a strong, callused hand on her cheek. Now sliding to the back of her neck, curling around and infusing warmth to match his lips.
And those lips! As firm as the kiss was supple. It was as if his mouth knew things about her: which way to slant to get the maximum pleasure, how far to push without losing control. Because she had no doubt that Dex was in supreme control here. It was as if he was trying to prove something.
Ashley had nothing to prove, except maybe she’d like him to remember this kiss in some far-off future. Maybe she’d like to leave an impression.
