My Side by Tara Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

a sound, I don’t think either of us were sure what it was.
    He looked confused as
I stepped back.
    “That’s cold.”
    He nodded, “Yup.” He
grabbed a bag of peas and did the same thing. “So you like predictable?” he
asked, as he opened the fridge and passed me a bottle like a beer but it
wasn’t.
    “Yeah.” I turned the
top, taking a drink and sighing. It was a cranberry lemonade alcohol.
    He grabbed a beer and
drank it.
    I raised an eyebrow,
“You got these for me?”
    He shook his head, “I
like to have lady drinks on hand.”
    I groaned, “Ewww. I’m
drinking a whore lemonade, aren’t I?”
    He laughed and
stretched, flexing all his glistening muscles. I didn’t mind the heat suddenly.
If it made him look like that, it had to be good. Well, until he opened his
mouth, “You’re so judgmental. Don’t you ever just get laid for the sake of
getting laid?”
    Even in the dim light,
my horrified face could not be hidden.
    “Okay, I guess not.
Maybe you should try it, instead of just reading all the time. You’re awfully
stuck up, princess. I can help you relax, if you want.”
    I gasped, “I am not.
Why? Because I don’t want to give myself to everyone I meet? I have more
self-respect than to let someone like you touch me.”
    His stare turned cold
and intense. The amused look on his face was like a distant memory. He stepped
into me, brushing my chest against his abs, “If I touched you, you would like
it.” He lowered his face close to mine, “If I wanted to kiss
you, princess, I would and you would love it and beg me for more.” He
lingered.
    My discomfort was
muted by the intense animalistic instincts rushing through my body. He grinned
and backed off, “You want me, as much as I want you.”
    I shook my head,
“You’re egotistical. I would never let you touch me. Not someone like you.” I
stepped back and around the counter.
    I felt him watching me
as I slapped the edamame on the counter and retreated to my stifling bedroom. I
closed the door, but he was there within seconds opening it. I pressed my back
against the cold wall, as he looked down on me. His body was huge and
frightening in all the right ways, looming over me like that. He spoke softly,   “We need the windows and doors open for
the cross breeze. Trust me, you Northerners have no clue how to cool a house
off. I got this.”
    I sipped my lemonade
and relived every second of the kitchen.
    The
feeling of his arm hair brushing against my thigh. His sweaty, hard body standing so close to mine that my braless breasts
squished against his abs. I breathed through my mouth and shook my head. He was right , I wanted him . And
even worse, I loved that he wanted me.
    The memories of the
redheads and the trashy blonde, and the sleazy look he got on his face in
Costco, were hard to reach with that much blood being gone from my brain.
    My attraction was
undeniable. As was his ability to sleep with everything he spoke to. That had
to be a deterrent but no, my body wanted him and my brain was even on board.
Didn’t I care that he slept with every girl he spoke to?
    I wasn’t sure that was
accurate. He probably didn’t even have to talk. Had he kissed me in the
kitchen, I would have done it. I would have leapt into his strong arms and let
him have me on the counter.
    I held the
condensation-covered bottle to my forehead and took deep breaths. I grabbed my
phone and emailed Tom to see how the apartment hunting was going. Lochlan and I
had been roommates for a couple weeks, and I was ready to do things I hadn’t
done in a long time. Things I hadn’t ever done with someone I barely knew.
    Within minutes I
noticed a difference in the temperature in my room. The air felt new and clean
again, instead of tasting the way I imagined he did, heady and salty.
    He leaned in my
doorframe, “Told you.”
    I sighed, “Yup. I
guess being a country bumpkin is good for something.”
    He folded his arms,
“You think you got me pegged, don’t