“Well, you can’t blame a big brother for trying,” he mused. His gaze skittered across a framed photo of a man with dark gold, close-clipped hair in military uniform.
“Darin?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You miss him a lot, don’t you?”
“Did you come over here to ask me about Darin?” she asked, a trifle impatiently.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
She gave him an exasperated glance, and he grinned. He’d grown accustomed to her irritation with him over the past week and a half. Maybe he’d grown used to it because her bouts of annoyance seemed increasingly just for show, and they both knew it. His attraction for her grew every second he spent with her. Colleen was like
a drug. The more she let down her guard and showed him her vibrant spirit, the more he wanted to drown in it.
The truth was, they were getting used to each other. The truth was, Colleen liked him. It was time for him to push her, just a tad, into admitting that fact.
“Is Darin the reason you refuse to go out with me?”
Her expression flattened. Her clear, bluish-green eyes went huge in her face. Apparently he’d taken her by surprise.
Good.
“I wasn’t aware of the fact that you’d ever asked me out,” she blurted.
He glanced up at the ceiling, pretending to consider. “You’re right. Maybe I haven’t ever officially. I would have thought my intentions were clear, though.”
She made an incredulous sound.
“No?” he asked.
“If you’re talking about your insinuation that you wanted to sleep with me while we were dancing tonight, then you definitely were not clear. Wanting to go to bed with someone and asking them on a date are two completely different things.” She pushed a tendril of hair behind her shoulder in a nervous gesture. He noticed the rapid throb of her pulse at her throat. He wanted to touch her. Whether to soothe her or excite her, he didn’t know, but the desire to feel his skin against hers felt so powerful it was like a stab of pain.
“Okay. If you say so. Will you go out on a date with me, then?” he asked quietly.
Her eyes flashed. “No.”
“Then that takes me back to my original question. Is it because you’re still mourning your late husband?”
“No.”
“Then I was right earlier—it is about me. Haven’t I proven to you at this point that I’m not the SOB you were always making me out to be?”
“Eric,” she began in a pressured manner and then halted. “I don’t think you’re an SOB.”
“You used to. You never made a secret of that.”
Color stained her cheeks. He glanced down and saw that the small triangle of skin exposed at her chest had deepened in color, as well. Her breasts rose in agitation. He dragged his gaze back up to her face with an effort.
“I know it. And I’m sorry. I haven’t really thought that for a while now. You’re…you’re okay.”
“High praise indeed, coming from you. Was that a proposal?”
“Ha,” she scoffed. Still, her defenses were wavering. She looked more uncertain than annoyed. Vulnerability made her even more beautiful, impossible though that seemed. “My point is, I like you fine. You’re nowhere near as arrogant as I thought you were. That doesn’t mean I want to…” She paused. Eric watched through a narrowed gaze as she bit at her lower lip. His body responded like she’d just reached out and stroked him where it counted. He moved a few inches closer to her, his actions directed by pure instinct.
“…go out with you,” she finished in a tremulous voice.
“I promise I’ll be patient, Colleen. I’ll go slow, if that’s what you want. I’ll go fast, if that’s what you prefer. Whatever you want. Just know that I’ll take very, very good care of you,” he murmured, dropping his head nearer to hers. She didn’t move away, just looked up at him with a big-eyed stare that made him feel one part tender and one part like the big bad wolf.