better than silence!
“Because,” Rann said slowly, in a quiet, serene tone. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Gayle’s mouth dropped open. That was not what she’d been expecting him to say. She started to speak, but Rann wasn’t done.
“I couldn’t stop staring, even if I’d wanted to, which I assure you I did not,” he added at the end, putting emphasis on his statement.
Gayle laughed, trying to stay light and easy, even while she tried to process what he was saying. How could someone who looked like him think of her as the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen? That was just silly.
“You probably say that to all the hot chicks,” she said. “Flattery will get you anything and all.”
Rann snorted dismissively, swinging his head—and thus the shaggy hair that she found suited him perfectly—around to face her, his jade eyes all but glowing in the dark with their intensity.
“No,” he said confidently. “Others are beautiful, yes, but they pale beside you. And that is the truth.”
Gayle shivered at the ringing tone. Rann was making a statement, one he believed unflinchingly, and she could detect no flattery or deceit in his voice. Sometimes, it was just impossible to fake something, and right then, right there, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was telling her the truth.
“Th-thank you,” she said, stammering slightly at the unexpected serious turn of their conversation. “That does at least help make a rough night a little better at least.”
Rann growled from somewhere deep in his chest, an almost feral noise that, if it had come from anyone but him, would have made her step away in fear. Instead, she slid a little closer to him, almost instinctively seeking his shelter.
“Whoever your ex is,” he continued in a deep rumble that spread out around them, the sound of his voice threatening to vanquish anything nearby that might hurt her. “They’re an absolute idiot.”
“Ha,” she said dryly. “Got that right. But regardless of how dumb he might be, I still lost him and my best friend. In one night. That hurts.”
“I know,” Rann said so gently she blinked, the sudden growling protector replaced with someone else in the blink of an eye.
“And they can’t even see that what they’re doing hurts me so much. That might be the worst of it all, Rann,” she said, hearing the pain in her own voice. “They’re oblivious to the effect it has on me.”
“No, they aren’t,” Rann said. “They aren’t oblivious. They don’t care. Because they’re inconsiderate assholes, and you deserve a whole lot better.”
She paused her walking and smiled up at him. “I know, but…it still hurts Rann. I still just want to cry.”
Rann came to a halt as well. She saw him chew on his bottom lip for a moment, and then he stepped forward abruptly. The next thing she knew, her head was pressed against his chest, and his massive biceps were squeezing her tight.
Gayle caught herself about to sigh in contentment at the feeling of being wrapped up by him but stopped herself. She was out on the street with someone she’d met twenty-minutes earlier, and she was hugging him. Not just hugging him, but resting her head on his chest, feeling the thudding beat of his heart and the resting power of his thick pectoral muscles as they shifted ever so slightly.
This was madness. She should be at home crying.
Why? another part of her demanded to know, rising up to combat the sadness with her other emotion: anger. Why can’t I enjoy myself if a hot-ass stranger wants to hug me and let me feel his body? I’m single, he’s damn sexy, and there is no longer anything holding me back. Pete left me. I can do whatever I want.
Gayle was a free woman. If she wanted to let this hunk take her home and twist her body up into a human pretzel while he did things to her, she could. The only person that could stop her was herself.
She stiffened in his arms, abruptly wondering if he was thinking the same thing.
What if he’s just trying to be nice to me? What if he doesn’t want anything more, and I’m over here picturing us getting naked for no reason?
Gayle felt silly at the prospect. She needed to know. Needed to find out what his thoughts were on everything going on. What was going on? They were just hugging. Sure, it was dragging on now, past a simple friendly hug, but