Page 100 of Bluffed By the Offense

I like her.

She’s gotten past my defenses and under my skin. I’ve never met another woman like her and I wonder if I ever will.

No.

No. No. No.

This can’t be happening.

You know those times when you’re coming down with the flu and you just feel off? You’re clammy and nothing tastes right. You wonder if it’s the food or you. And then, a few hours later, you’re on your back in bed, feverish and incoherent.

That’s what I’m experiencing now. Only it’s Cass.

I’ve got Cass flu.

And I don’t think it will pass in twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

She stares at me.

“What’s the matter, QB?”

“Nothing,” I say.

Everything!

“Ready?” I ask her.

“Oh, yes I am. I’m ready to hear your poultry origin story.”

“My what?” I ask, staring into her eyes, trying to shake the emotions gripping my chest.

“Cold Turkey?” she says.

I laugh. “Yeah. Well, that’s a story that gets told when you earn the right to hear it.”

“Is that a challenge?” she asks, looking up at me through her lashes, a deliciously mischievous grin on her face.

“Definitely,” I say, attempting to recalibrate.

We need to get back to this. The banter. The volleying. The way she antagonizes me and I push her away, looking forward to the day we get to call this whole charade off.

That’s what we need.

Unfortunately, when she gives me that saucy look, my brain does this little psst-pfft-psst thing like it’s short-circuiting, and my eyes dart down to her lips.

“You’re acting weird, QB. Did you not get enough sleep?” she asks.

“I got plenty of sleep. I’m just itching to get on the road,” I lie.

“Okay, you two lovebirds. Let’s get rolling!” Winona says, hopping into the back seat.

Cass rounds the side of the car and I hang back, taking a cleansing breath and giving myself an inner pep talk.

You’ll get over this. It’s a side effect of having comforted her through her panic. This isn’t big. She’s not the woman you want. She’s just a distraction.

I tell myself all that. And I’m feeling better until I climb into the driver’s seat and my senses fill with her citrus-and-floral scent. I turn to take one look at her and a single word consumes my thoughts: mine.

Chapter 21