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His passion for his work was contagious and made me wonder if that’s the key ingredient I was missing in my own work. “Congratulations, Miles. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks, I’m pretty proud of myself too.”
“You should be.”
“I am.” His brown eyes darkened so that only the threads of gold were visible as heat took over everything about him. It was white-hot, so visceral I could feel the air between us heat up a few degrees. His gaze moved from my eyes to my mouth and I could the kiss he was moments away from laying on me and I jumped up from my seat with a gasp.
“Wow, I didn’t realize it was so late. I should be heading to bed soon, working at a bakery means early hours and all that.” I was babbling and I couldn’t stop, not until Miles’ shoulders fell in disappointment and he stood, taking the clumsy hint.
“All right, Shannon.” He turned to face me, too close, and put his hands on my shoulders to stop my nonstop movements. “Thanks for having me over for dinner.”
I laughed. “Thank you for bringing dinner. And drinks.”
“Good night, Shannon.” His grip tightened on my shoulders and mild panic set in when he leaned forward, but instead of going for the earlier denied kiss, he dropped a semi-chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth, just close enough to make me remember what his mouth tasted like. “Sweet dreams.”
“You too,” I whispered, almost breathless and followed him to the front door.
Miles stepped out and turned to me, his expression soft and hot. “I can promise you, Shannon, my dreams will be anything but sweet, and that’s a promise.”
I didn’t know what to say to that but the moment Miles turned away from me, I closed and locked the door, making sure there were enough obstacles between us that I couldn’t do something stupid, like call him back inside and do what we both wanted.
Nope, I was turning over a new leaf where men were concerned. A smart new leaf that said listen to his words but accept his actions.
Even if that leaf meant going to bed alone and exhausting my battery supply.
Miles
“Miles. Sick of playing on your military jungle gym already?” Stone joined me at the free weights with a smile as he followed my gaze through the mirror and towards the machines where a certain gorgeous red head sweated it out on the elliptical machine.
Looking for a quick diversion because, damn the people in this town were nosy as hell, even the men, I clapped him on the back and laughed. “I heard your equipment was unused so I figured I’d get in a traditional workout between real workouts.”
Stone laughed but he was in no way distracted by my words. “Nice try, but don’t think I haven’t noticed you checking out Shannon for the past forty-five minutes.”
Had it been that long? Nah. “It’s been thirty, tops.”
“I’m just impressed you admitted it. Liam was a stubborn ass when he was in the hot seat.” Stone’s tone was amused and I wondered if he too had gotten in on the matchmaking scheme his fiancé had started in this weird little town.
“There is no hot seat,” I assured him and shook my head as I picked up a set of weights when Shannon caught me staring at her. “Just enjoying the sight of a beautiful woman.” Sweating and breathing hard and reminding me of the last time I had her in that position.
“I heard she put you just outside the friend zone. That’s brutal, man.” I glared at Stone and he shrugged. “This is a small town, all news, good or bad, travels fast.”
“I only told Liam.”
Stone shrugged. “Your point?”
I shrugged in return. “Don’t know, I guess.” Since there were no secrets in this town, I looked my fill of Shannon, enjoying the way her pale pink pants hugged her round ass and fit snug against her narrow waist, but it was her thighs, soft and strong, that had my mind going to places it shouldn’t. Especially since we were friends and my thoughts were anything but friendly. They were hot and dirty, because that’s what I wanted when Shannon was around. “We’re friends.”
“Not from what I heard.”
“We will be, as soon as she stops being mad at me.” That was the tricky part in all this. She was upset with me, genuinely upset, but the way she kept distance between us told me she also still wanted me, and my shitty behavior hadn’t changed that, it only made her more determined to ignore it.
“Good luck with that. Shannon isn’t a small town girl who will be impressed with muscles and smile. She seems like the kind of girl who will need a little more than that, and that’s a direct quote from Sophie.”
