The Best Mistake - Cookie O'Gorman Page 0,33

of discomfort, but he seemed to relax at my touch. “You’re the one who came tearing around the corner at a hundred miles per hour. Why were you running anyway?”

“Hmm,” he said, closing his eyes. “Had somewhere I needed to be.”

“Ah,” I said, “and you literally sprinted to get there. Must be pretty important.”

“It was,” he said. “Plus, I gotta keep in shape somehow.”

I had to laugh at that. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about there.”

Eyes opening slowly, he captured my gaze with a look so intense I nearly lost my breath. My fingers stilled in his hair.

“Was that a compliment?” he said.

“It…I—”

“Because it sure sounded like one.”

I shrugged, trying to get past my lack of flirtation skills and just talk like a normal human being. “You can take it any way you’d like.”

The corner of his lip turned up. “Really? Take it…any way I’d like?”

“Seriously, do you have to make it sound so dirty?”

“Hey, I’m just repeating what you said.”

His eyes were smiling even if his lips were not, which let me know that he knew exactly what he was doing. “In a sexy low voice with tons of innuendo,” I accused. “That makes the meaning of the words completely different.”

“Oh,” he said, “I see.”

“I know you do,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “You’re just teasing. Which is strange because I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one, Archer.”

“I am responsible,” he said and then leaned closer, speaking directly into my ear. “But that doesn’t mean I’m immune to hearing you say certain things”—His hands tightened around my waist, making me gasp—”or feeling you pressed up against me like this.”

It was at that moment I realized several things. Since we collided, we had been standing like this: Me, draped across his chest, while his back was leaned up against the wall. Archer’s arms were wrapped around me, his hands splayed on my lower back. Our legs were tangled together and my hand, that treacherous hand, was still buried in his hair while the other rested near his heart. The position couldn’t have been more intimate. If anyone saw us, they’d definitely assume there was some hanky-panky going on.

My body warmed, aware now of everywhere we touched.

“And just so we’re clear,” he said, still speaking low, “I wasn’t teasing.”

His cheek brushed against mine as he leaned back, so he could meet my eyes.

“I would love to take you—any way, anywhere, anytime.”

I tried to speak but couldn’t; my throat was too dry. It was probably a good thing, since I had no idea what to say back. Yes, please. I’d love to be taken. Is right now good for you? That was just asking for trouble—again, not that I could say it anyway. Archer O’Brien literally left me speechless.

As I stood there unable to respond, Archer’s frown came back full force.

“Honor?” he said after a beat. “You all right?”

Before I could respond, another voice spoke over me.

“Archer,” Mrs. O’Brien called out. “Is that you?”

Eyes wide, I scrambled away as fast as I could, putting a safe distance between me and her son, worried she’d catch us in such a compromising pose. That would definitely put me smack dab in the “baseball bunny” category in her mind. But she never came around the corner. With a sigh, Archer pushed off the wall and stepped out into the main hall.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me,” he said.

“Well, what are you doing over there, talking to yourself? Come into the office. I was hoping to speak to you about something.”

“Sure, be there in a second.”

“Okay,” she said, and I heard her footsteps disappear.

Archer looked at me again, pushed his hands into his pockets.

“Guess I’ll see you around,” he said.

“Yeah, sure,” was my brilliant reply. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I gave him a thumbs-up, and added, “You bet.”

I saw his lips twitch again, thought he might’ve wanted to laugh, but instead he walked away, moving toward his mother’s office while shaking his head.

For my part, I left the building in a daze. How did he do that? How was it that Archer could talk to me and just make the whole world disappear? More importantly: How was I supposed to profile Archer and not fall for him? This was going to be an absolute disaster.

My day had gone from bad to worse.

After next to no sleep, I’d woken up to the sound of my phone alarm, followed by a text alert. My neck and back ached. The couch in the