Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(61)

Here I thought I was winning whatever game we were playing, but when I said that, Ryan’s face lit up as if I’d just stepped into some kind of trap. Locking his beautiful sky blue eyes on mine, he slowly stood up, leaving the blanket behind, and turned to face me with his arms spread wide. “If you want to look, Sunshine, you only have to say so. I’m here for your viewing pleasure at anytime.”

My eyes stretched to an uncomfortable size as I willed them not to break from his stare. I tried not to look. I swear on all the stars in the Arizona sky, I tried not to let my gaze fall below his face. But it did.

I looked, and looked, and, oh my holy lightning bolts, did I enjoy the sight. I stared way too long, and I may or may not have licked my lips. I’m going to say not, because that would be highly embarrassing if I did. But my mouth was completely dry.

I didn’t look at his face again until he cleared his throat. There was laughter behind the gesture, and when my eyes snapped up he was grinning at me with a crooked smile that, if possible, I was already starting to fall for. “Want to make out for a while before Major Wilks gets here?” he asked.

Yes. “No.” I popped my jaw shut—when had it fallen open?—and scrambled off the couch, moving a safe distance away from him.

Ryan stalked toward me, closing the gap between us in seconds. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yup.” Another audible swallow. Curse that blasted twinkle in his eyes! “Definitely sure.”

He laughed and brushed my cheek with his fingertips. If I didn’t do something, I was going to lose this battle. Actually, I already was losing this battle, because I couldn’t remember why I was even fighting him. All I knew at this point was that some inner stubborn part of me was determined not to give in to him—probably because he was being so cocky.

I scrambled for excuses that would save me from certain…who even knows what. “We have more important things to do right now.”

He wrinkled his nose. “That’s debatable.”

“Plus, you’re, like, really sweaty, which, no offense, is super gross because I have this heightened sense of smell and—”

That cracked through Ryan’s focus. Giving up the fight, he interrupted me with a loud, overly dramatic sigh. “I know, I know. You have a major problem with post-workout stink.”

“Right. Exactly.” I thanked my lucky stars that the tension had been cut, because I’d been choking on it. “So why don’t you go shower and…” My voice trailed off. Visions of Ryan minus the Jockeys currently on his person, under a spray of hot, steamy water danced across my mind and I lost my train of thought.

Ryan chuckled, deep and throaty. “Would you like to join me?”

“No,” I snapped, more annoyed with my ridiculous weakness than his cocky attitude.

His laughter tipped the scales of my annoyance even more. I forced a roll of my eyes when what I really wanted to do was zap the smug smile off his face. I whirled around, prepared to stomp off to my room with so much attitude that my hair flew out behind me. I should have used superspeed.

Ryan grabbed my hand and gently jerked me back. “Jamie. Babe. Why are you fighting this so hard?” I scoffed at the word babe. Ryan smiled and tucked some of my hair behind my ear in response. “You fought me last time too, because you’re stubborn. But it’s a hopeless endeavor. You’ll give in to me eventually. You always do. So why not just save us both some time and give in now? Be my girlfriend.”

I was still reeling over that impossibly arrogant speech when his last words registered in my mind. “Be your girlfriend? Are you serious?”

Ryan tugged me close and slipped his arms low around my waist, pulling me against his nearly naked body. “Do I seem like I’m joking?”

No. He most definitely did not. His hands, gripping my hips, were tense as if he was consciously trying to keep them rooted in place and not let them wander elsewhere. His eyes burned with heat.

My heart rate spiked to dangerous levels. I felt panicked. “Ryan, that’s crazy.”

“Why?”

I wasn’t sure anymore. “It just is.”

“I’m not asking you to continue the relationship we used to have. Don’t think about the past. Don’t think about what we used to be. How do you feel right now?”

“I—” Nervous, fluttery, tingly, breathless, overwhelmed, excited…

When I didn’t respond, Ryan tried a different approach. “Do you at least like me more than Teddy?”

The question surprised me into responding without thinking. “That’s not fair. I can’t compare the two of you. I never liked him this way.”

“Ha!” Ryan shouted. He let go of me and backed up a step so that he could point an accusing finger at me. The lust he’d been struggling with moments ago was gone. Now he was nothing but excited and playful. “You like me!”

“What?”

“You said you never liked Teddy ‘this way.’ That means you like me differently than him, and you said you only like him as a friend. You like me as more than a friend.”

My jaw dropped. “Wait. I didn’t mean—I wasn’t saying—”

Ryan shook his head. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re in like with me. You just admitted it. You can’t take it back.”