Page 69 of No Headlines Please

Actually, I didn't. Growing up, Tessa had always been the pretty one. And the nice one. I wasn't exactly the troll in the basement, but Tessa had always done both just a little better.

Under Maddox's penetrating gaze, I blew out a long, ragged breath. "Well, if that isn't a loaded question."

"How so?"

Forget the family baggage. I stuck with a universal truth. "Because no matter how I reply, I'm doomed. I'm either calling you a liar or calling myself conceited."

"Conceited how?"

"Well, I'd have to be conceited to call myself pretty and nice, right?"

"Except you weren't the one who said it." He held my gaze. "I did."

His words warmed my heart, and I couldn't resist teasing him. "Are you sure you're not just trying to distract me?"

He leaned forward a fraction. "You want me to?"

Already, I could think of a million ways he could do just that. He could lean in a few more inches and press his lips to mine, making me completely forget that I was supposed to be interrogating him.

While he was at it, he could pull me onto his lap and ruin my ability to form any coherent thought whatsoever. He could slide a hand along the small of my back, and I'd probably forget my own name. Never mind the cancelled wedding.

Butterflies swarmed in my stomach. And I hadn't even gotten to the naked stuff.

My voice came out oddly breathless as I asked, "You mean…distract me? How would you do that?"

In a low voice, he asked, "Do you want the safe way? Or the dangerous way?"

My thoughts were already dangerous, so I figured I'd better start slow and work my way up. "How about the safe way?" But then I quickly added, "Well, for starters, anyway."

"Alright." He paused as if considering his options. "I could light the game on fire."

I let out a startled laugh. "What?"

"Hey, you asked for the safe one."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, what's the dangerous option?"

Again, his gaze drifted to my lips. Softly, he asked, "You can't guess?"

Wow. And now I was looking at his lips. They looked infinitely kissable, and my voice was nearly a whisper as I confessed, "I can guess a little."

The moment held, and I was already kissing him in my mind when he surprised me by pulling back to say, "But you know what?"

"What?"

"You deserve some answers."

Talk about mental whiplash. And now I felt slightly foolish, because for a moment there, I was oh-so ready to be distracted – and not by a flaming Monopoly board.

I cleared my throat. "Right. I guess I did ask for them." I paused to regroup. "So…should I keep interrogating you? Or do you just want to tell me what happened in your own words?"

28

Pick Your Poison

Maddox

The funny thing about scandals was that eventually, people stopped asking whether the story was true.