For Seven Nights Only - Sarah Ballance Page 0,37

in this light. Still a sex god, but behind the omnipresent cocky façade was a very real man.

One who had done things to her she never imagined anyone could.

Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. Because this was so much his modus operandi that she was almost ashamed she’d fallen for it. Granted, she’d gotten past the first date, and the second, but she’d given him a hand job on date number three and spent the first part of the fourth on his lap practically begging him for sex and the second part actually giving it to him. So what if she’d held out longer than most of his conquests? The end result was the same.

Frustrated, she gave him a hard nudge with her knee.

Turned out those eyes were no less green when he was groggy. He peered at her through thick lashes, the emerald hue breaking through like beams of sunlight through clouds. “What?”

“You’re snoring.”

He sat, rubbing his face as his abs flexed into perfection. He glanced toward the corner to which the dog had retreated, then at her. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I snored.”

“I guess you don’t normally stick around this long, huh?”

“As a matter of fact…” He kissed her neck, and her nipples tightened traitorously. And considering her utter lack of clothing, that fact didn’t get past him.

“You should probably go,” she said.

Immediately, he stopped kissing her. When he drew back, questions reflected in his eyes…questions for which she had no answers. Even she didn’t know what she was going for here. Pretending it didn’t matter? Fat chance. Still, she wanted to apologize, but why bother? This was where he made his exit. Or maybe he’d be a stand-up guy and see her through the remaining three dates, but that would probably be worse.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Genuine concern filled his eyes. It startled her.

“I just thought you might need to…go.”

“Shit. Any idea what time it is?”

“Ten.”

“Jesus. I was supposed to be at work two hours ago.”

“On a Saturday?”

“It’s a family business, and Saturdays are busy. More so than usual since my workaholic older brother…since Crosby decided to expand. He used to live for working weekends.” Sawyer shook his head. “Went and fell in love, and now he’s useless.”

“I doubt he’s useless.” She watched as he flipped back the covers and searched the room, naked, for his clothes.

“He’s useless to me when I want to sleep in on a Saturday morning,” he said as he stepped into his pants. “Or anything else I might want to do in bed.”

Was he flirting with her? Making this worse? Or maybe he just didn’t care. Business as usual. The thought hurt, and that pissed her off because she’d known going in what that night would mean to him.

She just hadn’t imagined what it would mean to her.

Definitely time to deflect, or pull the Band-Aid off fast, or whatever cliché would work. None. None of them would. “Well, I guess this is it, then.”

He paused, giving her an odd look. “What kind of it?”

The kind where you got laid and take off. She didn’t respond, because she couldn’t stand the way the words sounded in her head, and while she knew the truth was right there in her face, she was also afraid it would become all the more real if she said it out loud.

“I was thinking,” he said, a bit too casually, the words guarded. Or was that her imagination? “Why don’t you come to my family’s Sunday dinner tomorrow?”

Ah. So he was going to see out his obligation with her. That was just…lovely. Pretending with him would be torture. It’s not like there was anything there to begin with, but she didn’t want to hang out with a man who was counting the dates until he could be rid of her.

“For date five?” she asked.

Was it her imagination, or did his face fall just a little? The moment, if it existed, passed in a flash. “Okay, sure. Date five. I’ll swing by tomorrow around noon.”

“Sounds great,” she said. But it was a lie. It actually sounded like torture.

Torture that intensified when he left her with an unusually troubled expression and no words of good-bye.

…

Sawyer stormed through the back entrance of Fusion Air and slammed the door so hard the walls rattled. “What the fuck is wrong with her?”

Ethan, one of his two younger brothers, looked up from a computer. “What’s the matter? Did you lose your favorite shirt again?”

Sawyer scowled. “Funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be. The last time you