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I was? Wait, what had we even been talking about?
Fucking hell. Why did she have to look so innocent and hopeful when she looked at me? Something inside me must be wired all wrong because this electric current of desire shot straight to my core, and my limbs went heavy and liquid as primal urges stirred.
“I, uh…” Damn, this was bad. This was very, very bad. Clearing my throat, I widened my eyes and lifted my brows before sitting up straighter in my seat to physically force myself back into thinking logically mode. Then I asked, “Are you okay?”
“I…” She shook her head, then blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she finally answered glumly before blasting me with a smile that would’ve knocked me on my ass if I hadn’t already been sitting. “Thank you, though. For helping out. I was kind of bombing that, wasn’t I?”
“No,” I immediately gushed, not wanting her to feel self-conscious. But then I shrugged because sometimes I was too honest for my own good. “I mean, yeah, you pretty much suck at turning guys away.”
Well, shit. Now I was the one who sucked. At encouraging downtrodden damsels into feeling better about themselves. I had nothing motivating to add at all.
Not that I should boost her confidence. She was the enemy.
Wasn’t she?
Jesus, I was getting confused.
I needed to abort this mission pronto before I thought one more good thing about her.
Yellow sent me a kind, forgiving smile. “You probably can’t tell, but I’ve actually been training for this very thing.”
What thing? I wanted to ask.
Rejecting men?
Talking to her nemesis’s brother?
Turning a guy to mush with a mere smile. Because she was definitely excelling at number three.
With a
rueful shrug, she confessed, “It’s a work in progress, I guess.”
I nodded stupidly. What the hell was it about her that had me feeling so inept? And yet alive?
Grinding the back of my teeth together, I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “I should, uh, I should probably get back to my seat now.”
Except I didn’t move, and when she said, “Wait,” then gripped my forearm, every muscle in my body tensed with anticipation.
I couldn’t have gone anywhere if I wanted to. The light press of her fingertips rendered me immobile. It was as if she’d just fucking branded me. I belonged to her now, whether I liked it or not.
Completely oblivious to the spell she’d just put me under, Yellow cringed, and her big brown eyes begged. “Do you think you could—I mean, would it be okay if you stayed? Here. Through the rest of the movie. That guy just…” She glanced over my shoulder toward him and gave a horrified shudder. “He really creeped me out.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, agreeing. Then I cleared my throat, shook my head, and returned to the present. “I mean, yeah. I could stay. No problem.”
But as soon as I said the words, I internally winced. Because what the hell was I doing?
I should not stay anywhere near this woman, ever. So I quickly added, “But this is a one-time deal. Alright?”
When she sent me an odd look, I nearly groaned and smacked myself in the forehead. “I mean…” I rolled out a hand to get her to understand. “I can’t help you again. Because I—you know. Because you and I are…”
Jesus, was it hot in here? I tugged at my collar, thinking everything I said only seemed to make me sound more and more idiotic.
So I paused—full stop—rewound and started over fresh with, “You probably don’t remember me.”
“You’re Gracen,” she answered immediately. “Lowe. Isabella’s brother, right? We met when you were pulling her off me as she tried to literally scratch my eyes out.”
“Right,” I said slowly. So she did remember. “That is who I am.”
