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“I haven’t,” she said, but even she could hear the lie in her voice.
“Sweet Mary Paige.” Asher pulled her from the chair, and gently wrapped his arms around her. “I see such beauty in your soul. You’re like a tender flower, grace and love in each petal. But like that flower you trust people not to step on you, not to pluck your petals and leave you abandoned.”
She stood woodenly in his arms, every cell in her body screaming out against the truth in his poetic words. Had she wanted to love Brennan so badly she was easy plucking? Had she been the softhearted idiot yet again, allowing Brennan to do on a larger scale what Simon had done—use her?
She felt shell-shocked.
Stupid.
Asher’s lips brushed her cheek.
What the hell?She stepped back, but his arms held her firmly.
“I appreciate your concern, Asher, especially when you’ve just met me. I can assure you I’m okay. My heart isn’t broken, and your words are unnecessary. I’m a big girl.”
He looked at her, his blue eyes so sincere. “Yes, you are. Still, there is something delicate in you, something a man needs to protect.”
Mary Paige read more than goodwill flickering in Asher’s eyes. He looked strange and acted even more strangely.
She pressed lightly against his chest, attempting to break his hold. “Let me go. I’m stronger than I look.”
His eyes dipped to her lips and the last thought she had before he kissed her was,Oh, crap.
Mary Paige struggled to move away, but Asher’s hand caught her head as his other arm locked her in place. His lips were demanding, and he tasted like whiskey.
She tried to turn her head. “Stop.”
Vaguely she heard the door open, and her mind tripped into the land of disbelief. She didn’t have to look to know it was Brennan standing looking at them.
Suddenly, she was in a soap opera, her lover catching her with another man.
She stomped on Asher’s foot, and he released her finally, then turned toward Brennan with a sheepish smile. Mary Paige dragged the back of her hand over her mouth, trying in vain to erase Asher’s touch.
“What the hell?” Brennan said, his eyes flickering from her to his cousin.
“It’s not what it—”
“Sorry, man,” Asher said, shaking his head, spreading his hands out as he shrugged. “We danced, and we couldn’t help ourselves.”
“No,” Mary Paige said. “That’s not what happened. He said he had to tell me something about you, and then all of a sudden, he kissed me.”
Brennan’s eyes had narrowed, and anger pulsed in the room like a live animal, devouring all in its path. She’d never seen fury so quiet before and knew how the poor gazelle felt right before the lion pounced.
“Come on,” Asher said, shaking his head. “I’m a married man. Do you think I would endanger my marriage over some girl I just met? She flirted with me, and when I offered her a sympathetic shoulder, things happened.”
Mary Paige’s mouth dropped open, and she punched his arm. “You’re a liar. I did no such thing.”
“I watched you go with him. You came to this room with him.” Brennan’s words were calm…and cold as ice water.
“Well, yes, but only because he said he wanted to give me some insight about you.” She couldn’t believe what was going down. The whole situation felt preposterous, and Asher was a damn snake in the grass…or party. Either one.
Asher sighed and delivered a bemused smile. “Come on, Mary Paige, you don’t have to pretend with Brennan. He knows the score.”
She gasped. “You’re making this look like something it wasn’t, and Brennan’s not stupid. He knows me and knows I wouldn’t act like that.”
“Act like what? Flirt with me? Dance with me? Kiss me? Isn’t that what you’ve been doing with my cousin all along? How am I different from him? Besides, Brennan doesn’t really know you, does he?”
Mary Paige couldn’t believe the spin. It felt so designed. In fact, how had she not seen his intent? But why would Asher want to sabotage her and Brennan? What did he care who his cousin dated? Especially when he’d implied their dating was all an act contrived by Brennan.
