NICE GIRL TO LOVE (THE COMPLETE THREE-BOOK COLLECTION)(8)

“Afraid to tell him?” she prodded with little sympathy.

“Shouldn’t I be?”

Leaning against the doorframe, she took her sweet time answering, “Nah, Brian will probably just laugh his ass off.”

That’s what he was afraid of.

And clearly, the grinning imp darn well knew it, too.

Seeing her amusement at his expense ripen even more, he saw a brief opening and took a shot, “So are you going to put me out of my misery already and forgive me?”

“I don’t know. Did you apologize?” she countered.

Damn, she wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

“I’m…sorry, Abby. Truly.” The words were rusty and foreign in his mouth; they weren’t ones he used very often.

Suddenly, her smile dissolved into a look of remembered irritation. “Sorry for calling me a gold digging whore or for saying I was too fat to be in a trashy wet t-shirt contest?”

He reeled back as if bitch-slapped. “I didn’t call you fat! Good lord, you don’t really think that about yourself, do you?”

“Of course not,” she snapped.

“Good.” He wasn’t a fan of women who were constantly putting themselves down. “If you did, I’d tell you to go get some new glasses. Your body’s gorgeous.”

She bristled in disbelief. “I’m not some self-conscious girl in need of your validation, you big twerp. I laugh when my dress size stays in the double digits during holiday months; it means my friends and family put that much more love into their dishes that year. I don’t need false compliments from a guy who dates size zero models to feel good about myself.”

He shot his hands in the air like a good little gunfire target. “It wasn’t a false compliment. What I said back at my house was the lie—if any of it had been even remotely true, I wouldn’t have said it. I’m not a cruel person. The fact that I did say it meant it was the furthest thing from the truth, which made it a safe insult. Truth is, you were so unbelievably sexy in that wet t-shirt, I could hardly bear it.”

Even now, the lingering memory of how she’d looked with the soaked fabric plastered to her smoking hot body was more than he—and the fit of slacks—could bear.

She paused long enough for him to see about five different emotions flit across her face before she eventually landed on one…and exploded. “You are SO annoying! Are you really trying to turn an insulting, objectifying, insanely illogical comment like that into a half-baked compliment?!”

He grinned. “Is it working?”

“No!” But she couldn’t completely tamp down the smile that was obviously trying to escape.

She really did have a great smile.

Danger, Connor Sullivan, danger. He was getting sucked in by her all over again. “So, where should I put these?” he asked levelly, picking up the flowers again to avoid looking at her. “Over on that table by the window?”

“And have it block all the light in my living room?” she laughed, opening the door all the way to let him in, seemingly unaffected by the electricity he felt buzzing between them. “I guess you can put it on the kitchen table; I’m pretty sure it’s sturdy enough to handle the weight.” She gazed admiringly at the colorful assortment as he set it down. “Thank you, Connor. They’re beautiful. Unnecessary, but appreciated all the same.”

“They’re entirely necessary,” he said gruffly, rejoining her in the living room, “I was way out of line.”

She lifted a shoulder. “You thought you were protecting Brian; I understand the compulsion, trust me.”

Brian. The mental splash of ice-cold reality was just as effective today as it’d been the other night. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he switched over to small talk. “Yeah, he’s one of the good ones. Have you two been dating long?”

She replied very…carefully, “What has Brian told you?”

“Nothing at all, really. I was actually surprised to see you with him at the party.” Stunned was more like it. Seeing Brian with any woman other than Beth had been an altogether surreal experience. “You look cute together.”

Okay, now the shifty woman looked like she was chewing on an old wad of gum. His eyes narrowed. Had he been right in his accusations earlier? Maybe she’d just used Skylar as her cover. A very effective one. “How serious are you about Brian? If you don’t mind me asking.”

With a quick glance at the clock, she evaded poorly, “Oh, look at the time. I’ve got a meeting to get to and I need to shower first.” She reopened the front door. Subtle. “Thanks for the flowers, Connor. I accept your apology, of course.”

Briskly ignoring his body’s response to the image of her in the shower, he caught her by the elbow and crowded her against the wall. “You’re hiding something. What is it?”

She shook her head in denial and suddenly, the warm scent of chocolate assailed his senses. His gaze dropped down to her lips. “Hot cocoa,” he murmured. So the empty mug on the kitchen table hadn’t been filled with coffee then.

Her response was barely a whisper. “I was cold.”

His blood fired. Imagining all the ways he could’ve helped warm her up nearly brought him to his knees. Tugging on her elbow once more, he pulled her body flush against his.