What If You & Me (Say Everything #2) - Roni Loren Page 0,45

if this was a date in his eyes or just a friendly thing. She no longer knew what answer she wanted.

Eliza had told her that if she wanted to make a move, to make one, but the thought scared the hell out of her. She didn’t make moves on guys. She could be reading Hill all wrong. He could be completely uninterested. Or faking nice. He could be here for a quick hookup. He could be a dangerous guy who was fooling her like she’d been fooled before.

She frowned. That didn’t feel like what was happening. She peeked over at Hill who was setting aside his pad thai while not taking his eyes off the movie. He sipped his margarita and she watched his throat work as he swallowed. The guy was fucking gorgeous.

Hill startled, a barely there tensing, but she’d caught it because she’d been staring. Even without looking at the screen, she knew what had happened. Michael Myers had appeared, complete with sharp, sudden music.

He glanced over, finding her looking. He smirked. “You didn’t see that.”

She smiled. “Not many people are immune to the jump scare. No shame. I still jump sometimes, even when I’ve seen a movie a hundred times and know it’s coming.”

He considered her, his dark lashes making shadows on his cheeks in the blue-gray light of the television. “But you like that feeling?”

“Being scared in a safe way is a rush.” Feeling bold, she reached out and grabbed his wrist, placing her fingers against his pulse point. His arm tensed beneath her touch, but he stayed very still. “Your heart is beating fast. You probably have already gotten a small dose of adrenaline. You’re breathing a little harder. It’s riding a roller coaster without having to leave your house or risk throwing up.”

His heartbeat picked up speed beneath her fingertips, his skin warm and solid under her touch.

She swallowed hard. “It can even make the person you’re watching the movie with more attractive,” she rambled on, her own heartbeat racing. “Studies have shown that your body mistakes the fear response to the movie for attraction to someone you’re with.”

His gaze held hers, the movie rolling on in the background. “Is that right?”

She wet her lips and pulled her hand back, feeling ridiculous but unable to stop talking. “Yeah. The arousal response system kicks in.”

“I guess I’ve been doing movie dates wrong all my life then,” he said with a half smile. “I thought taking dates to a romantic movie was the way to go. I missed the opportunity to appear more attractive.”

She scoffed. “Right. Like you need the help.”

A look of surprise crossed his face, and she instantly wanted to take back the slipup.

“I mean, I’m sure being the tall, dark, and fit firefighter who cooks was a real burden,” she added.

“Right.” Something closed off instantly in his expression as his gaze shifted back to the movie.

She didn’t know what she’d said wrong, but clearly he didn’t want to continue this conversation. She needed to turn back to the movie, focus on why they were here, but her mouth had other ideas. “Did I say something wrong?”

Hill reached for the remote and paused the movie, turning to her with a frown. “What?”

“You were with me and then you weren’t,” she said. “Usually that means I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth again.”

He let out a breath and shook his head. “No, sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s nothing.”

“Which is code for it’s obviously something,” she said, apparently unable to keep from prodding. “I crossed the friendly line, didn’t I? With what I said? I’m sorry. I ramble. I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t,” he said quickly. “You’ve been clear about what this is—that this isn’t a date. I just needed a second to remind myself of that. My lines got blurred for a minute, but I’m good now. We’re good.”

A whoosh of some unnamed emotion went through her. “Oh.” She watched him watching her, a realization coming over her. “Wait—do you want this to be a date?”

His jaw flexed like he was ten kinds of uncomfortable. “That’s not why I came over. I’m not trying to pull a bait and switch on you. I came over here to hang out with you and watch a movie. No ulterior motives.”

She considered him. “That didn’t exactly answer my question.”

He sighed, weariness on his face. “Because there’s no easy answer to it. It’s more complicated than that.”

She tucked her legs beneath her, turning more toward him.