Page 45 of Risk It All
“Good,” I responded, barely able to hear my own words. “I’m glad everything’s fine.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I liked his attention more than I should have.
I let go of the plate and reached behind me to steady myself against the counter.
I’d once overheard Colin tell Leo to stop flirting with me, and I thought it was ridiculous. Leo didn’t flirt with me. He understood me, but he didn’tflirtwith me.
I stood by that, even if the look on his face right now contradicted everything. Had he looked at me like this before and I hadn’t noticed? Or was this the first time he’d actually seenme?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I whispered, my voicebreathy and gaze dropping to his mouth. My lips parted and chest heaved, the tension growing heavy and thick between us. The conversations and music from the other room were muted in my mind.
“Why areyoulooking atmelike that?” he countered.
I hadn’t realized I was looking at him a certain way, but I guess I was. Had I looked at him like this before?
There were a handful of reasons I broke up with Colin, but somewhere on the list was a lack of desire. I felt more chemistry in this moment with Leo than I’d felt in the year I’d been with Colin—and it wasn’t for lack of trying. When Colin and I had been together, it was always about what he wanted.
There were other things, too. Arguments. Comments here and there. Feeling like he only wanted me when it was convenient.
It took me longer to realize all this than I wanted to admit, but once I did, I knew I couldn’t continue seeing him. I didn’t regret the year I’d spent with him, but it did open my eyes to what I did and didn’t want.
I didn’t want a relationship. I didn’t want to be with someone who wanted to change things about me—even little things. I didn’t think there was someone out there who liked every little thing about me. Hell, evenIdidn’t like everything about me.
I wondered how Leo would kiss, because something told me he would focus on what I wanted. Which then led me to saying quite possibly one of the stupidest things I could’ve said…and I’ve said some stupid shit over the years.
“I’m looking at you like that,” I started, licking my lips, “because I want you to kiss me.”
My heart pounded in my ears, and I thought I took it too far, said too much.
Leo took two long steps toward me, closing the distance between us. My back would’ve hit the counter had it not beenfor his hand on my hip, pulling me flush against him. The tips of his calloused fingers slipped ever so slightly underneath my shirt, pressing into my skin.
“Don’t say shit like that, Eliza,” he warned, his voice dark, dangerous, and delicious.
“Why not?” I breathed, one of my hands instinctively reaching for his chest, my fingers wrapping around the soft fabric of his shirt. “What are you going to do about it?” I challenged, although it sounded more like pleading. Likejust put us out of this misery anddosomething.
“Fuck,” Leo breathed, resting his forehead against mine. He wasso close, and I could see from the crease in his forehead and the clench of his jaw that he was thinking about it.
But he’d thought about it for too long.
The moment was gone as quickly as it came.
“Leo, dear, will you open this champagne bottle for us?” an older woman’s voice sounded.
We were so close one moment and couldn’t be farther apart the next. Leo practically went to the other side of the kitchen, and I stayed firmly planted, hoping that the flush on my cheeks didn’t give us away.
But what was there to give away? Nothing had happened.
The woman, who was one of Leo’s grandmother’s friends, was still admiring the label. She slowly looked up, a startled, “Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” leaving her as she looked between us.
“You didn’t?—”
“We weren’t?—”
We both said at the same time.
I inhaled deeply, trying to steady my racing heart. I tugged on the hem of my shirt, hiding the sliver of skin where Leo’s touch had been.
Leo, on the other hand, recovered much quicker. “Let’s get this champagne open for you, Dottie.”
