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He took her arm and tried to coax her closer but she resisted. "Just tell me you didn’t know."
She lifted her chin, looking defiant and scared at the same time. "I think you need to leave."
He dropped her arm. "Why?"
"I asked you not to open that card, Drew."
He snorted out a sound of disbelief. "You can’t blame me for wanting to know the truth. For needing to know the truth."
"No, but I can blame you for not respecting my wishes."
"Mia, this is my sister’s—"
"And Piper’s my best friend," she cried. "I won’t tell you what I do or don’t know about her private life."
"I don’t care about Piper. Just tell me if you knew or not."
"What does it matter? They’re not my secrets to reveal."
"I have to know."
She glanced away. "Will you please just go?"
He blew out a frustrated groan. It killed him that she stood so close, smelling so good, and yet he was unable to convey the emotions roiling through him. He just wanted to reach out and yank her against him.
As the image only grew in his head, he shivered. What the heck. He was already batting zero here. What was one more strike from a woman he probably wouldn’t see again?
"Mia, you’re right. It’ doesn’t matter. I can’t be upset with you for a being a good friend and keeping your roommate’s confidence."
She lifted her face, looking cautious and wary by his sudden change in attitude.
"I just …" He blew out some of the steam building in him. "I’m actually relieved. I didn’t want it to be you. From the first moment I saw you, I felt …" He shook his head, the sensation stronger than before, swelling in his chest.
Her eyes widened and lips parted.
"I don’t know how to describe it," he finished. "But it happened again yesterday. And it’s happening right now. I can’t just ignore this."
She took a jerking step back. "Maybe you should try harder."
Despite the uneasy way she eyed him, he grinned. "You feel it too, don’t you?"
"No," she was quick to reply, unable to keep eye contact as the statement blurted from her.
His lips spread. "Liar."
Scorching an indignant glare his way, her back stiffened. "You need to leave. Right now."
"Don’t be afraid, Mia." He kept his voice soft and his gaze kind, though he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to wrap a long lock of her pale hair around his finger. When she gave a light gasp but didn’t yank away, he murmured, "I’m just as unsettled by this pull as you are."
Her eyes lifted, still apprehensive but also hopeful. "You don’t look unsettled."
He smiled, ecstatic she’d stopped fighting the truth. "Here," he told her, dropping her hair to catch her hand and press it against his racing heart. "That’s not what a settled person’s heart feels like, is it?"
Her gaze fell to her fingers as they lay spread against his chest. Her breathing grew stuttered, almost as if her anxiety was about to make her hyperventilate. But she continued to press her palm to him.
She lifted her face, looking extremely panicked. "I don’t … I can’t …"
"Shh," he said and covered her hand with his own so he was able to feel his own heartbeat thump through her shaking fingers. "It’s okay."
