I wasn’t. And whatever secrets I had didn’t need probing. But…why was he staring at me like that?
A slow smile spread across his full lips. The small lines at the corners of his eyes made me think he did that a lot. “Hi.” His deep voice resonated where my palms had unclenched and were now splayed over hard pecs.
Tingles rippled over my skin.
The good kind.
The kind I had no desire to experience from someone like Blue Eyes.
I pushed against his firm chest and stumbled out of his hold. He let me go, although I caught the flash of disappointment on his face at my hasty retreat.
Hi?
That was all he had to say after almost getting taken out by a speeding bike? Come to think of it, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Way Too Cool didn’t seem flustered in the slightest. Whowasthis guy?
When I remained silent, he ducked so we were eye level. “Hey, are you all right?” I couldn’t place his accent, but he wasn’t raised in Philly. The Midwest, if I had to guess.
Words, Sage. Use them!
He likely already thought I was short on brain cells after I’d clammed up just now. “I’m okay, I think.” I ran a mental body scan for confirmation and straightened my tank.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Blue Eyes nodded and smiled again. It made my chest flutter in a way I wasn’t at all comfortable with.
Was he flirting with me? I didn’t want it to be true, but how else could I interpret his body language? The smiles, the stares. The way he looked like he wanted to risk being mowed down by a bike for a second time just so we could be close again.
It wasn’t as though guys never flirted with me. It happened often enough, and sometimes I even flirted back. Sometimes it led to more. But it never made mefeelanything. Not like now. Hot face, racing heart, tumbling stomach. It’d been a long time, but I recognized the symptoms.
Something twisted inside my gut when I remembered the first time I’d met Kieran. He’d been new at my high school, and I’d been a goner from the moment he’d sat next to me in class. The dimple when he’d smiled, his sweet, boyish charm, the way he’d rubbed the back of his neck in nervous anticipation of my answer to his question,Is this seat taken?
My reaction to this guy didn’t make sense. He wasn’t anything like Kieran. He was a man, for one, probably in his late twenties, where Kieran had barely made it past his teens. The way Blue Eyes carried himself, he seemed so worldly and confident. And what I’d felt beneath my palms earlier was a very powerful body. So different from—
Stop! Don’t even go there.
Something bitter burned the back of my throat. Comparing them was all kinds of wrong. And how was it fair that I was here living and feeling…things I didn’t deserve to feel when Kieran was gone forever?
Blue Eyes scratched the short, dark stubble on his cheek while his brow knitted in a confused expression. “Do you usually close your eyes and hope for the best when there’s an incredibly loud motorcycle thundering toward you?”
Wait…what?Did the hot guy insult me? “Excuse me?”
“I even warned you to move. Twice.”
Heat crept up my neck. From anger, from lust. Who knew anymore?
Irritated with his patronizing tone and the annoying fact that he made a valid point, I mustered every ounce of sarcasm I could. “So sorry for the inconvenience I’ve caused you.”
“No apology necessary. I’m rather glad you needed rescuing, actually.” His baby blues sparkled with something like amusement.
Amusement!
What about this situation was entertaining?
“You think that was fun?” I scoffed. “You shoved me out of the way like a charging bull.”
He folded enormous arms across his chest. I ignored the way the sleeves of his black T-shirt strained against the bulk of his biceps. “I had it under control,” he said. “And if I hadn’t moved you out of the way, you probably would’ve broken something. Multiple somethings, I expect.”
I mimicked his pose. “No, I wouldn’t have, because I was about to get out of the way before you tackled me.” At least, I hoped I had been.
He pursed his lips while his eyes narrowed to slits. “Nope. I don’t think you were. You definitely had that deer-in-the-headlights look. That is, until you clamped your eyes shut.”