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Harper was right. He wasn’t that guy. Her stomach turned at the disgust on his face.
“That’s not what I think of you,” she said quickly. “You’re a good guy, Breck, and I know you’d never hurt anybody. Not willingly. But I…” she trailed off, trying to find the words. “Rachel’s constantly around you. I assumed there was something to it.” She couldn’t look at him. Her face was flaming with embarrassment. Why was it that whenever he was around all common sense deserted her?
“So is Lucas and Ember and everybody else we hang out with.” Breck’s voice was low. “But there’s nothing going on between me and them, either.”
She covered her face with her hands, not wanting him to see her complete discomfort. Could she make things any worse? She’d practically accused him of being a cheat when he’d done nothing wrong at all.
The elevator stopped at her floor, the doors sliding open to reveal the corridor. They stepped out and stopped, the elevator closing behind them.
“Cait,” Breck said softly. “Will you look at me?”
She leaned against the papered wall. “I can’t.”
“Please,” he said. “Please look at me.” He prised her fingers away from her face, curling his hands around hers. She scrunched her eyes shut as tight as she could. She felt too exposed, embarrassed. Her heart was about to burst out of her ribcage.
“There’s nothing going on with me and Rachel,” he told her. “I’m not dating her, seeing her, or whatever else you think might be going on. She’s a friend of a friend. That’s it. Nothing more than that.”
Her body was such a mix of emotions she had no idea what to do next. Embarrassment melted into shock, and maybe something else, too. A need for him that had only gotten stronger this week they’d been apart.
She’d kissed him as a teenager, and it had felt like her world had tipped sideways. But it had nothing on kissing him as an adult. A woman. Somebody who was his equal.
His fingers were warm as they wrapped around hers. “I’m not dating Rachel,” he repeated. “I’m a single guy. I’ve no idea where you’ve got the idea Rachel and I are an item.”
She opened her eyes. His face was so close to hers she had to blink to bring him into focus. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You must think I’m crazy.”
He smiled softly. “A little. I never would’ve kissed you last week if I was with someone. I wish you’d known that.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again, unable to find the right words. She felt as though she was being absorbed by his eyes, drowning in them. Her whole body was vibrating at his closeness.
“Maybe I did, somewhere deep inside. I don’t know,” she whispered. “It was all so unexpected. One minute I was dropping your sweater off, the next minute we were… doing whatever we were doing.”
“Kissing,” he said. “We were kissing and touching. Making each other feel good.”
An image flashed into her brain. Breck above her on his couch, her legs wrapped around his. For those few minutes when they had been together, everything had felt so right.
“This is my suite,” she said, pointing at the door on the opposite side of the hall. Grabbing her card, she jammed it into the slot. The lock mechanism whirred to let them enter.
“Are you sure you want to come in?” She gave him a small smile. “You know what Harper’s like.” Her gossip radar would be going through the roof.
“Do you want me to come in?”
“As long as you’re prepared for the scrutiny.”
He shrugged. “I think I can handle it.”
She pushed the heavy oak door open. “Then let’s do this.” Walking inside, she kicked her shoes off and sunk her feet into the carpet. Her ankles sung with joy at the relief. She could feel Breck right behind her, hear his gentle breathing as he followed her. The door slammed behind him as he set her laptop bag on the floor.
“Hey, you’re back. How’d it go?” Harper walked out of the bathroom wearing a white towel, her hair wrapped in a makeshift turban. Her eyes widened as she looked at the pair. “Hi, Breck.” She tugged at her towel as if she could make it bigger. “I didn’t realize we had company.”
“Hey.” He sounded amused. Caitie bit down a grin.
“Are you joining us for dinner? I can call and add you to the table.” Harper’s voice dropped. “Scrub that. You guys stay here and order room service. The place we’re going to sucks.” She was backing away from them slowly, as though they hadn’t noticed she was standing there almost naked.
“But you said it was impossible to get into. You couldn’t wait to go.” Caitie frowned.
“Nope. Seriously, you’ll hate it. They have karaoke and everything. You’re so much better off staying here and having a quiet meal.” She widened her eyes at Caitie. “Okay?”
“Um… okay.”
