Page 48 of Sky’s Edge

I was just being me.

“No,” I said truthfully.

He went back to tapping, asking, “Then why would I find you annoying?”

“We have nothing in common.”

“We both ski,” he muttered to the tablet. “And Hurley likes both of us.”

“Hurley’s a friendly dog. He probably likes everybody.”

He finished with the tablet and set it aside so he could concentrate again on me.

“I sense you won’t find it distressing to know you are not the first female of mine he’s met,” he declared.

Now that he mentioned it, I did find that distressing.

Totally.

Why did I find that distressing?

He was an adult male.

I was an adult female.

We were both of an age we’d spent time with the opposite sex.

He thought I was his, but I didn’t think he was mine.

But yes, I couldn’t deny it was distressing.

Actually, more than a little.

I didn’t admit that.

“Go on,” I urged.

“He’s never liked any of them.”

I felt my lips part in shock.

I looked down at Hurley, who was lying by my chair.

He felt my attention, turned to his back and exposed his belly.

This meant, of course, I had to reach down and give it a rub.

A deep, attractive chuckle sounded from the other end of the table.

My head shot up, but alas, it was over before I could witness it other than auditorily.

But…

His eyes had darkened, straight to black.

And I saw red lightning flash from one to the other and back again.

I held my breath.