Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series by Tricia Daniels Page B

instantly
filled with regret and her shoulders slouch. Why did she tell him
that?
    “Is that why you were crying?” He asks
softly, his lips dangerously close to her neck. He tries not to be
glad of that news, since he had tried to convince her to brush him
off. Instead, he positions himself as a caring friend, trying to
gain her trust. She doesn’t answer, only shrugs her shoulders in a
slight gesture, but it’s as good as an admission.
    “Why did he cancel?“
    “Well… funny thing.” She begins. “I was
going to ask him why, but I couldn’t.” Her hands fidget with the
cuffs of her hoodie and he reaches down and holds them still in one
of his large strong hands.
    “Why is that?” The muscles in her stomach
tighten as he brings the other hand up and lightly brushes his
fingertips up and down her arm. The night air is cool against her
skin but she doesn’t feel it at all. She tries to convince herself
that it’s the fever and not Ethan that has her feeling like she’s
on fire.
    “His mouth was full.” She looks up into
Ethan’s gorgeous green eyes. Even in the dark of night, they look
like a summer meadow all warm and inviting. She resists the urge to
run her hands through his hair and down his cheek, brushing her
fingers over the few day old growth of facial hair, letting it
prickle roughly against the soft skin on the pads of her
fingertips. Her stomach squeezes and dampness pools between her
legs at the thought.
    “Full?” He looks at her in confusion. “What
do you mean his mouth was FULL?”
    Olivia takes a short breath as she speaks
the painful words. “Full with the tongue of the blonde he was
kissing.” Her tone is sarcastic and bitter and saying it aloud
gives her the strength she needs to move away from him. Knowing
that a relationship of any kind with Ethan O’Connell would surely
be a disaster, she slides off the hood and starts towards the side
of the car. Not wanting her to leave, he grabs for her wrist,
making her body stiffen and stopping her in her tracks. “Olivia,
wait.”
    She doesn’t turn to look at him. If she was
to look into those wickedly sexy Irish eyes, she knows she’d give
in. She keeps her eyes down. “I should go.“ Feeling the intense
anxiety in her body language, Ethan reluctantly releases her and
follows her to the door. He reaches past her, grasps the handle,
and pulls it open. When she gets in, he closes the door and then
gently knocks on the window with his knuckle. Against her better
judgment, she opens it to hear what he has to say.
    “Olivia, that guy is douche bag.” She stares
straight ahead at the steering wheel. She can’t think. She needs to
regain control of her thoughts. He brushes the hair out of her eyes
and then gently skims his thumb across her cheek. The expression on
her face looks like his touch has caused her physical pain. He
feels sick at heart when she moves to the side withdrawing from his
touch. She lets out a heavy breath. “Don’t.”
    “Olivia, please.” Ethan attempts to calm
her. “I know you feel it too.” He reaches for her again.
    “Don’t.” She repeats shaking her head. “You
and I… it’s never going to happen.”
    Once again, she leaves him standing alone,
watching as she drives away. It doesn’t matter what she says. Now,
more than ever, he’s determined to possess her, his desire stronger
than gravitational pull. As she disappears in the distance, his
thoughts are focused only on her. Always running away from me, Miss
James. We are going to put a stop to that.
    When she gets home, she returns to her spot
on the couch and tries to settle, finding it extremely difficult to
rest comfortably, with the throbbing pain in her leg. This whole
friends with benefits thing is a bad idea. Maybe when she talks to
the doctor she should take her sister’s advice and have her
hormones checked. Maybe there is some imbalance there that would
explain her unwanted reaction to Ethan O’Connell. Suddenly her cell
phone beeps