There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,7

me a favor. Which,” she made sure to point out, “I will owe you for big-time to make us even.”

He lifted his arms slightly. “I’m still waiting for you to get over your revulsion to touching me. Better to face it now in private than tomorrow night in front of everyone.”

That was just the problem. She was anything but revolted.

CHAPTER FOUR

Zara had vowed to get over her fatal flaw of falling for guys who always ended up wishing they were with Brittany. At first, each of the guys had been so convincing. They told her how much they admired what she was doing with her business and how they liked that she didn’t dress or act like other women they’d known—only to inevitably fall head over heels for her stepsister, who ticked every “perfect girlfriend” box with her swishy blonde hair, her job in PR, and her fashionable clothes.

Zara’s ex was a paler, smaller, less-built version of Rory. Which only reinforced that she would have to be an utter fool to let herself give in to these strange new feelings for Rory.

Okay, then. It was time to buck up and touch him and prove that she felt nothing. Yes, that was her new mantra. She was going to feel nothing.

She gave him no warning before slapping her hands on his chest. The sound was loud enough to reverberate through the room.

“Sorry.” She winced as she added a white lie. “I don’t think I’ve fully got my balance back.”

“I’m tough enough to take it.”

Good thing one of them was. Because now that she could feel his warmth seeping through his shirt to her palms…now that she knew exactly how hard and well-built his pecs were…now that she was getting a lungful of that delicious wood-chip/cedar scent he had going…

She suddenly felt more wobbly on her feet than she had when she was drunk.

“Losing the grimace might help,” he suggested.

She worked to school her face into a smile. “How’s this?”

“If you want everyone to think you’re having a bad case of heartburn, it’s perfect.”

She made herself think of puppies and butterflies and every single person in the state of Maine wearing a pair of her glasses.

“Much more believable,” he said. “Although it would be better if you looked into my eyes, instead of at my shoulder.”

Shoot. She’d been hoping to get away with that. Because she really, really didn’t want to lift her gaze to his. Not when she was afraid he’d see the budding attraction that she was hell-bent on hiding.

Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his, all the while chanting her mantra in her head. Feel nothing. Feel nothing. Feel nothing.

Of course, he had to choose that exact moment to smile at her. Between the crinkles at the sides of his mouth and the light in his eyes, she couldn’t have felt nothing if she’d been anesthetized.

“No problems here.” It took everything she had to sound unaffected. “Any issues for you?”

He held her gaze for a long moment. “Nope, everything’s good for me too.”

She lowered her hands and stepped back, relief coursing through her that she’d made it through one of the hardest tests of her life. “Great. Then we’re good to go for tomorrow.”

“Not quite.”

She frowned. “What now?”

“You’ve gotten used to touching me, but I still don’t know how it feels to touch you, beyond helping you off the couch.”

Plenty of sexier things had been said to her over the years. Rory’s sentence clearly wasn’t meant to be at all seductive. And yet, her body had never responded this way to a couple of sentences strung together. As though she were a firework, and he a match.

“You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?”

“If we’re going to do this, we should do it right,” he countered. “Flinching at my slightest touch would blow the whole thing.”

Darn it, he was right. Only, it had taken everything she had to stay stoic while touching him. She wasn’t sure she had anything left to fight her next reaction. Clearly, she was going to have to dig deep.

“Fine.” She scowled. “Whenever you’re ready, go ahead.”

But instead of moving closer, he suddenly stepped back. “You know what? I’m being an ass. I shouldn’t have forced your hand with any of this. If you don’t want me to go with you to the party, I need to respect that.” He was clearly upset with himself as he said, “I’m really sorry I’m trying to convince you to let me touch you. My mother would rake