Brave Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #3)(11)

“What’s your favorite part?” I ask, my voice strangely coarse.

“The mountains. The view from right here is stunning. Their peaks are beautiful. Almost close enough for me to reach out and touch, it seems.”

Oh God! I feel like groaning. Does he seriously do that on purpose?

I inhale deeply, sharply, my aching flesh pressing even further into the cool silk. I hear Tag’s breath hiss through his teeth and I’m gratified that he’s at least as bothered as I am.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” I ask again, taking one last step closer. We are nearly chest to chest. I have to crane my neck to look up at him.

“No, nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect. Just perfect.”

Neither of us makes a sound or a move. I wonder if he’ll kiss me. I wonder if he won’t. I wonder if I have the nerve to do it if he doesn’t.

And then I get my answer. At least one of them. I take a single step back and clear my throat. “Well, I’ll let you get what you need, then.” A vague invitation. Too vague? I don’t know.

I turn and walk slowly back to the bed, bending over at the waist to straighten my covers. I feel the lacy hem of my nightie ride up the backs of my thighs, grazing the curve of my butt. I’d almost swear that I could actually feel the hot touch of his eyes on my hips and legs before I slip into bed.

I pull the covers up to my belly and rest my head on my pillow, turning to look questioningly up at him. He’s watching me. Staring as though he’s stuck in indecision. I don’t know what I could do to move him in one direction or the other, so I simply stare back.

After several long, unnerving seconds, Tag nods and heads for the bathroom. I hear the cabinet open. I hear it close. I don’t remember seeing a stray toothbrush in there when I put my things away, but to say I was distracted would be the understatement of the year. There could’ve been a rattlesnake in there and I might not have noticed.

When Tag reappears from the bathroom, he’s empty-handed. “Mom must’ve thrown it away when she cleaned. I thought I got everything out when I moved my things, but . . .”

“So where are you sleeping now?”

“At the other end of the hall.”

“Oh,” I reply, my skin warming at the thought of him being so close. All night long.

“Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me.” He backs toward the door and every cell of my body is screaming for him to come to the bed. I need you! I need you!

But I don’t admit to that. Rather, I smile and say, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” he returns, easing back out the way he came. It’s right before he closes the door that I hear his soft, “Sweet dreams, fair Weatherly.” And then he’s gone.

—

I’m on my side with the covers pulled up over my shoulders, facing the door when it opens. The muted creak brings me out of my semi-sleep with pulse-pounding speed. My eyes adjust quickly enough to recognize that the short blonde walking into my room is not Tag.

I gasp, sitting up so fast the room spins for a second. “Who are you? And what the hell are you doing in my room?”

I think for a moment about what I might be able to use for a weapon if this girl is here to do me harm. Logic hasn’t entered into the equation yet.

“Ohmigod I’m so sorry! I thought this was Tag’s room. Sorry,” she says, turning to tiptoe back out the way she came.

“Wait!” I snap, anger beginning to boil in my blood as realization sets in. The girl stops and turns her upper body back toward me. “You’re here for Tag?”

“Yes. I didn’t mean to bother you. I thought this was his room, but maybe I turned the wrong way. It is dark, after all.”

Is it? Is it dark at two a.m., you brainless bimbo? I think venomously. Jealously.

“You’ve been here before, then?”

“A few times.”

“Does . . . does Tag know you’re coming?”

“He told me to come over tonight, but I’m running late.”

I keep a firm hold on my jaw so that it doesn’t drop open in humiliated outrage. “Well, you can find him at the other end of the hall.”

I flop back onto the bed, turning away from the door and silently dismissing the interloper. No wonder Tag didn’t try to kiss me. I guess since he was supposed to be seeing another woman within a couple of hours his sense of propriety stopped him. It should’ve stopped him a helluva lot sooner.

That is one messed up moral compass, I think.

I roll back over onto my back, throwing an arm over my eyes. How humiliating!

Wow, you’re an idiot, Weatherly.

I’ve never fallen for cheap lines before. What the hell is wrong with me? Never mind that no one I know has the audacity to throw any cheap lines at me. I feel like a fool for believing one thing Tag said. I should’ve known a guy who looks like him would be this kind of person. An unscrupulous manwhore. A user and a liar and a cheat. An incorrigible rake, by his own admission! And I fell for it! God! And I hate that it stings so much.

I promise to tell you the absolute truth about everything I’m feeling.

Jesus, I’m an imbecile! No wonder my father doesn’t trust me to make my own choice for a husband.

The thought brings my circumstances—all of them—rushing back to the forefront of my mind. I have real problems, problems that dwarf being temporarily sidetracked by a line-slinging ladies’ man. Tag’s despicable nature changes nothing, other than my silly intention of living in the moment for a change. I came here to get a plan together and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Tag be damned. I don’t need him or his help or his sweet talk. And if he thinks he’s ever going to be kissing these lips, he’s got another thought coming!