Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,16

wipe his face while giving me and millions of other people a delicious view of his abs.

The image was a huge distraction.

As far as my mom, it was true that I hadn't been completely transparent about losing my barista job or the sponsorship, but so far, I hadn't lied to her, not outright. And I didn't want to start now.

I replied, "It's just a local guy, that's all."

That's all?

Good grief. Chase Blastoviak was "just a local guy" the way some lions were "just cats."

"Who?" she asked. "Do I know him?"

Cripes, everyone knew him. Just last week, I'd recognized him instantly after only a single glance from inside the coffee shop.

I shifted nervously on the sofa. "Well, I'm sure you've seen him."

This was undeniably true. Blast was one of my mom's favorite TV shows. She and my dad were huge do-it-yourselfers. Plus, the local connection made the show impossible to resist.

My mom asked, "Where?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Where have I seen him?"

I bit my lip. "Um…around." I meant, of course, in their living room every Tuesday night when my parents were glued to the TV screen.

She asked, "What does he look like?"

Again, that image popped into my brain. He looked like every girl's fantasy, that's what. Unfortunately, he had the personality of a jackal.

I asked, "Why does that matter?"

"Because I'm trying to picture him."

And I was trying to not picture him.

I sighed. "Okay, he's exceptionally good-looking, alright?" Quickly I rattled off the basics. "Six-foot two with dark hair, and I’m pretty sure he works out. A lot. But it doesn't matter. He's a total jerk."

"But if that's the case," my mom said, "why are you meeting with him?"

Boy, if that wasn't a dangerous question. Going for a distraction, I teased, "Oh, you know me. I just love me some man meat."

Man meat. It was an old family joke, referring to guys with no personality, but plenty of muscles.

As far as Chase Blastoviak, he had muscles and a personality, except the personality was all bad.

On the phone, my mom went utterly silent. I knew why, too.

I was so busted.

Turns out, this was doubly true, because just then, directly behind me, I heard a different voice – a male voice – say, "Man meat, huh?"

Chapter 12

Mina

At the sound of his voice, I felt my whole body go rigid. I was still clutching the phone to my ear when my mom asked, "Who was that?"

"Nobody," I whispered. "Sorry. Gotta go." And with that, I disconnected the call and blinked long and hard before slowly turning to look.

When I did, I found my face mere inches from the pelvis of you-know-who.

I felt myself swallow. Speaking of man meat.

Oh, for God's sake.

I jerked my gaze upward to look at his face. As I did, he lifted a single eyebrow and asked, "So, how's it goin'?"

Terrible.

As if he cared.

He didn't look angry so much as amused, and for some stupid reason, this annoyed the heck out of me. And then, there was the matter of him being so darn sneaky.

Without thinking, I blurted out, "Next time, make a sound or something, will you?"

He lowered the eyebrow and asked, "You got a preference?"

"Excuse me?"

"The sound," he said. "What? You want me to moo?"

I frowned. Moo? Why would I want him to moo? I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. And besides, what could I say? I mean, I sure as heck wasn't going to moo.

In a near panic, I practically leapt up from the sofa. But when I did, my feet got all tangled up, and I tripped forward, falling straight into his arms. They closed around me as my face mashed into his chest.

I sucked in a horrified breath and then paused. He smelled good. His scent was all clean and woodsy. He felt even better, and for a split second, I forgot to be mortified that I'd apparently just hurtled myself against him.

But then, he spoke into my hair. "Subtle."

It was the same thing he'd said yesterday when I'd accidentally shown him a picture of myself in a bikini. But that too had been an accident.

I yanked myself out of his arms and nearly stumbled in the other direction. Just in time, I grabbed the arm of the sofa and held on for dear life.

Finally, I took a deep calming breath and summoned up what I hoped was a smile. It didn't feel like a smile so I widened it considerably.

As I did, Chase frowned. He glanced down to his pelvis, as if expecting to find me