Too Close to Resist by Nicole Helm Read Free Book Online

meet in the middle where there was a rather big puddle. Because that was where they’d stood way too close and talked about mistakes.
    Which he wasn’t making anymore. Had to remember that.
    Grace rested her head on clasped hands at the top of the mop, studying him. “Can’t you at least tell me what it is?”
    She had a knack for taking a completely benign moment and making it either infuriating or the other thing. The other thing he didn’t want to think about. “No.”
    “Is it that bad? I mean, I’d think if it was something really stupid you could have gotten it removed by now.”
    “It’s not bad. It’s just none of your business.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t be so interested if you weren’t being so weird about it.”
    “I’m not being—” Kyle stopped himself. She wasn’t going to let this go, and what did it matter? What did it really matter if Grace knew? Kyle studied the woman in front of him. She represented everything he didn’t want. Chaos. Letting her in on his own chaos drew her closer, and the closer she got, the harder she’d be to push away. The harder the chaos would be to control.
    But she would be a thorn in his side either way, because she wasn’t going to give up on this until she knew. Grace didn’t give up on anything, even when she should.
    She tapped an index finger against her elbow. Her nails were painted a bright, blinding orange.
    “I imagine you got your tattoo to stand out?”
    She frowned at his assessment. “If I wanted to stand out I’d get one on my neck or get a sleeve of them. I got mine because— Nope. No way, you’re not turning this around on me. You’re going to tell me one way or another.”
    “Has anyone ever told you you’re pushy and obnoxious?”
    She grinned, her pretty face brightening with humor. “I live for those kind of compliments.”
    Kyle let out a breath. “It’s a compass.”
    Grace furrowed her brow. “A compass? Like north, east, west, south?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why a compass?”
    He wasn’t going into this. Not with her. “I don’t know. I was sixteen with a fake ID. I didn’t put a lot of thought into it.” Liar.
    “Of course you did.” She shook her head so the tips of her rainbow-colored hair bounced out from under the layer of brown. “If you didn’t care what it was, you would have gotten something stupid like barbed wire around your arm or Bugs Bunny on your calf. But you got a compass on your shoulder. It means something.”
    Kyle leaned back against the countertop, gripped it with his hands. He should walk away. He sure as hell shouldn’t tell her why he’d gotten it. Why he kept it. It was none of her business and he was all too afraid it would be another notch in the already too-long “things we have in common” list.
    “Let me see it,” she demanded, pushing the bucket of water and mop to the edge of the kitchen. She leaned the mop against the wall, ignoring the little puddle she’d made when water sloshed over the side.
    When she started walking toward him, he held out a hand. “Stop right there.”
    “Just let me see it.” She batted her eyes. “Pretty please.”
    It took every ounce of effort not to smile at her. “Go to hell.”
    She snorted. “I’m beginning to think you’re not as stuffy as you pretend.”
    Any threat of a smile vanished. “Yes, I am.”
    She cocked her head. “If you don’t show it to me, it’s going to be my mission to see it. Which means I might have to jump in on you when you’re in the shower.” She waggled her eyebrows and grinned as though she might even enjoy it.
    Either he was going to have to show her or things were going to get strange, and at the moment showing her a small piece of himself seemed much better than delving into that strange.
    Doing his best to scowl, Kyle pulled the collar of his shirt over his shoulder so the tattoo was visible. “There. Happy? Can you leave me alone now?”
    She most certainly didn’t leave him alone. Instead,