Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(61)

God, he wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her.

Her gaze dropped to his chest, and he remembered what he was wearing. A damned T-shirt that said Gaming ruined my life. Thankfully I have two more.

His jaw tightened as he waited for any sign of derision, but her face remained blank. Remembering that she’d never mocked him for being a gamer, he relaxed a fraction. “Can I get you anything?”

“I wouldn’t mind some of what you’re having.” She released a nervous little laugh, one meant to break the ice, he supposed. Could she be caught in her own battle of mixed emotions?

Rather than ask, he set about getting a second glass and filling it with ice. He felt her moving closer and his body tensed, not in fear, but in anticipation. Had she come to apologize? Was it possible they could put what had happened aside? He imagined them coming together in a rush of words, begging and giving forgiveness as they embraced, their mouths seeking and finding solace. And passion.

“You have a nice place,” she said quietly.

He started to tell her he’d hired a decorator. No way could he have pulled together a place like this. He couldn’t even dress himself without an app.

“Thanks,” he said instead. She didn’t need to know about his ineptness at buying furniture, especially not after walking in on him and the guys, all consummate geeks, right in the middle of a laser battle. Great, he thought. Friggin’ brilliant! All his efforts to present himself to her as a cool, together guy undone in an instant.

Except, back on Pearl Island Chloe had seemed fascinated, even turned on, by the very things he tried to hide. He didn’t understand that. Willing himself to keep his confusion hidden, he handed her the drink he’d poured. “Here.”

“Thank you.” She took a tiny sip, and choked.

“Did you want some cola with that?” Idiot, he thought. You didn’t even offer to put water in it.

“No,” she gasped. “I’m good.”

He studied her as his mind whirled with a hundred scenarios, until he couldn’t take it anymore. “Chloe,” he finally said in complete bafflement, “what are you doing here?”

With her eyes downcast, she took a breath. Then her lashes lifted and her incredible eyes looked straight into his. “I came to talk about what happened. Calmly this time, if that’s possible.”

When she didn’t say she’d come to apologize, his jaw hardened. “You mean talk about you destroying my sketchpad.”

“I didn’t,” she insisted. “I told you I only meant to throw it down. You bumped into me.”

“Right,” he scoffed. “It’s all my fault it went flying into the cove.”

“Actually, no.” Her brows drew together. “If AJ is to be believed, Captain Jack is responsible.”

“If AJ is to be believed?” he said incredulously.

“You said you believe in ghosts.”

“I do. I just think it’s kind of convenient that you can blame a ghost for what you did.”

“I didn’t throw it. I swear to you. I was upset, but I wouldn’t have thrown something like that into the water.”

“Are you even sorry it happened?”

“I am,” she said with obvious sincerity. “I’m sorry for so many reasons.” She dropped her gaze. “You’re a very talented artist and I know what the sketchpad meant to you.”

He frowned since it was the last thing he expected. “It was my drawings that set you off.”

“Because you drew me as a sex object.” Her gaze snapped back up.

“I drew you as a warrior,” he countered.

“With enormous boobs!”

“Because I was a teenager with sex on the brain,” he shot back. “Guys fantasize, okay? Does the fact that I let it spill into my drawings really make it worse?”

“Yes! Because you put me in your game looking like that.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You said you did.” She frowned as if trying to remember exactly what he’d said. “Maybe you didn’t use my face, but you used me.”

“Chloe, you aren’t in the game. What I put in the game are the types of strong, confident women you inspired. It’s not an insult. If anything, it’s a compliment. If you played Vortal, you’d see that.”

“You wouldn’t let me play, remember?” She squared her shoulders.

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. How could he convince her he wasn’t the bad guy here? “Do you know why I had a crush on you in school?”

She frowned as if caught off guard by the question.

“Because you had an attitude that said you could take care of yourself. So many of the girls acted as if the only thing they cared about was having a boyfriend. They put so much energy into makeup and clothes designed to drive boys crazy. You weren’t like that.” He saw her eyes narrow, as if she was really listening, so he pushed on. “You acted as if you were equal to any boy in school, and so they treated you that way. I admired you for that. Hell, I was in awe of you for it. When I fantasized about you, I was fantasizing about being with someone I respected.”

He didn’t add that in all those fantasies he’d always been Blade, because he couldn’t imagine Chloe wanting to be with the real him. Except she had wanted to be with him on Pearl Island. And dear God, he wanted that back.