I place my hands flat on his back and feeling his hard muscles flexing beneath my palms, almost makes me forget that he has me upside down over his shoulder. I shake my head lightly to rid my traitorous mind of the foolish trance a few muscles has it ensnared in, and start to wiggle again.
A wet slap to my bottom makes my eyes widen, and my lips part as a tiny peep rushes from me.
Rhett just slapped me on the butt.
“You can’t walk home in this weather,” he says, calmly, as if this isn’t… crap, I don’t even have words for what this situation is. Nothing like this has happened to me before.
When I hear whistles and Rhett’s name being cheered from a nearby dorm, I pinch my eyes shut. My cheeks start to flame with embarrassment from other students witnessing this absolutely crazy moment.
I’m so thrown by what just happened that I remain speechless until we reach his car.
I hear my bag falling to the ground with a wet slap. Rhett moves his hands to my hips and pulls me down the front of his body. My breath wooshes from me as my feet meet the ground.
When I realize how close we’re standing to each other, I yank my hands back from where I was gripping his shoulders. The tight grip he has on my hips keeps me from moving further away, making my eyes dart up to his.
I should let him have a piece of my mind for tossing me over his shoulder, but my mouth dries up the instant our eyes meet. His eyes are so dark and intense that my stomach flutters with something I’d rather not name.
“Yo,” my mind snaps derisively, “don’t even think about going there. Get me out of the gutter.”
I open my mouth but still, nothing comes out. I must look like a gaping fish right now.
“He’s off limits, silly girl,” my mind adds her two cents as if I wasn’t aware of that glaring fact which keeps slapping me upside the head whenever I have a moment of weakness, and I dare think that Rhett is hot… and dark… and broody… and sexy … and damn I’m so screwed.
His eyes finally release mine, but then they travel down my body. Doing a leisurely sweep down to my shoes before coming back up, it feels as if his heated gaze is scorching every inch of my icy skin.
“It’s no use,” my mind sighs sullenly. “You’re definitely screwed. When this blows up in your face, don’t come crying that I didn’t warn you.”
When his eyes collide with mine, and his fingers tighten their grip on my hips, I realize why I was upset about what that girl said in the library.
I want Rhett to notice me. Not as a homeless girl he needs to take care off, but as a woman.
The thought is so jarring and unexpected that I rip my body free from his hold. I grab my bag and walk around the car to the passenger side.
Breathlessly I say, “Fine. If you want your car wet it’s your loss. Can we leave already? I need to get home.”
I yank the door open and climbing into the car, I swear I hear him muttering under his breath, “It’s not the only thing I want wet.”