Strong and Sexy (Sky High Air #2)(41)

He gave her a long look, and with a sigh, she plopped back to the couch. “Okay, fine. What’s your point?”

“My point is…” Actually, he had no idea. She turned him upside down and sideways, with seemingly little effort. He shouldn’t have come, and yet not coming hadn’t been an option.

Hunkering down at her side, he looked into her face. Her green face. “A call back might have eased my mind.”

“Okay, well, I’m sorry about that.”

“Something might have happened to you.”

“It didn’t.”

“I was worried.”

She blinked, as if that hadn’t occurred to her. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

She looked down into the ice cream on the coffee table, and then at him, and this time, her eyes had warmed. “I’m sorry.”

“It never occurred to you I might be concerned?”

“That’s not what I thought you were calling for.”

“What did you think I was calling for?”

Her telephone rang, shattering the sudden silence. Looking relieved to be saved by the bell, she got up, flashing him a very brief view of the top of a pale blue thong before she yanked up the slipping sweats and stalked toward the telephone.

He sank to the couch and tried to concentrate past that pale blue. He’d come to make sure she was okay. Now that he could see that she was, he could leave.

Should leave.

Damn it. He didn’t want to.



Dani frowned at the phone, then hung it up.

“Wrong number?” Shayne asked, sitting on her couch like he belonged.

“No one was there.” She felt him watching her. “A hang-up.”

“Do you have caller ID?”

“No.”

“You need caller ID, Dani.”

With a sigh, she plopped at his side on the couch, tilted her head back and stared up at the ceiling. “I know. But for now, I’d like to keep pretending that it was just a wrong number.”

He put a hand on her leg. Her entire body went back on high alert.

“Back to my earlier question,” he murmured. “What did you think I came here for?”

It wasn’t easy to think past the hand he had on her knee. In fact, it was impossible.

“Dani?”

She sighed. “A booty call.”

“A booty call.”

She lifted his gaze to his, and for the longest beat he just looked at her, clearly surprised.

Okay, now she didn’t know which was worse. That she’d said it out loud, or that she’d been wrong.

“A booty call,” he repeated. “Jesus.”

She tried to get up, but he pressed a hand to her leg, holding her still. She closed her eyes. “My being mistaken makes me an even bigger loser than sitting here with a mask on, halfway through a gallon of ice cream all by myself.”

“Now, see, you didn’t have to admit that part.” She felt him lean forward, look into the carton. “Wow. You weren’t kidding.”

“Please. Just go out the door and pretend you weren’t ever here.”

“Dani.”

She didn’t answer.

“Dani.”

With a sigh, she opened her eyes and looked at him.

“I just want to get this straight. First you were upset because you thought I was calling for a—as you so eloquently put it—booty call. And now you’re upset because I wasn’t?”

“That’s right. I’m just doing my best to live up to my crazy reputation.” She walked to the door and opened it in invitation for him to leave. It was hard to maintain her dignity with the mask cracking all over her face, her hair falling out of its tenuous hold and into her face, and also into her face mask, ew, but she did her best.

“You really want me to leave?” he asked in shocked disbelief. Clearly, this was another first for him. “Why?”

Not expecting the question, she could only stare at him as he rose to his feet and slowly walked toward her. When their toes were touching, he reached around her and shut the door.

Locked it.

Okay, this was where she said something. Anything. “Um.” Oh, um. Yeah, that was brilliant. Really.

He ran a finger over her temple, pushing a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, then taking that finger on a slow, seductive tour down her throat.

“S-Shayne—”

“Why, Dani?”

“Because.” She cleared her throat. “Because I’m not interested.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, because you don’t repeat.”

Finger still on her, he went still, gaze lifting to hers.

Yep. That should do it. Any second now he’d walk out. It made her heart hurt to think of it, because despite her horror at being caught in the middle of a pity party, she didn’t want to be alone.

More than that. No matter what she’d told him, she wanted his company. His. “Right?” she pressed. “You don’t repeat, and I tend to do exactly that, so really, this thing is done.”

“Dani.”

Holding her breath, she locked her gaze on his. “Do you repeat, Shayne? Yes or no.”

“No, but—”