Perfecting the Odds by Brenna St. Clare

face carefully. “Karis, why did you kiss me? The truth.” Caught in his gaze, she found herself in a showdown of morality. It was so much easier to walk away and allow the lie to kill the connection between them. But Karis was honest if anything else, hurt too many times by deception to be any other way.
    Her chin quivered. “Because you’re ….” The tears finally fell. Just stop talking, Karis. The truth will only make it harder to leave . Her chest burned, and she was certain her long-ago- damaged heart was taking the brunt of both the lie and the truth.
    “ Finish your thought. Please.”
    She looked back at the door behind her before dashing away the tears. “It won’t make a difference, Michael.”
    “It will to me ,” he said and stepped closer.
    “Michael --,” She looked down and held her breath as his warm lips swept across her cheek. “It won’t change anything.”
    “ Goddammit, just say it, Karis.”
    She drew a breath and plunged. “You’re the only man I thought about after he died…. I don’t know why, and it doesn’t matter…I can’t--.” Her voice echoed in her head; she squeezed her eyes shut, suffocating further tears.
    “ Don’t leave, Karis.” His lips grazed her ear as his palm spayed her lower back. “Please, just--stay.” The tickle of his breath on her neck and the desperation in his voice cut through her, dropping with a thud in her gut. Scarred again. She pressed her palm against her stomach to ease the ache. She met his beautiful eyes glistening with apology. Her fingers itched to trace a path along his jaw, to run her thumb over that bottom lip, but she fisted them instead, digging her nails into her palms. “Would you have kissed me or come here, if I had told you the truth?” Of course he would ask that question.
    “ Maybe…and no,” she whispered. His pained expression was now firm, sure of his decision. “Listen, Mich—.”
    He cupped her chin firmly. “Don’t blame me for wanting to protect you from the memories of that night. I didn’t think you deserved rehashing any grief. I would’ve told you.” His lips quirked up. “Getting your attention at the bar wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.”
    “I guess slut is a step up from widow,” she quipped straight-faced, and he smirked.
    “Not what I meant, smart ass, ” he said with a nip to her bottom lip. She surprised herself and smiled. “That kiss tonight? Shit, I know you felt what we have between us. It’s more than just wanting each other. We have something, I don’t know… more , and we felt it three years ago, too; otherwise, you wouldn’t be so goddamn angry right now.” Michael traced his thumb along her jaw as his words settled in her brain. All she could do was stare because he was right. She couldn’t deny the connection she had with him. And he was right, she was fighting it. “For years I’ve thought about finding you, but I knew you would push me away like you’re doing now. For some reason tonight happened.”
    No . In Karis’s world, fate was the bastard child of destiny. And it wasn’t fate if it began under pretense. It was deception…and bared the identical feeling that swept over her when Robert had told her he hid the cancer from her. That feeling was unforgettable. Hell, she hadn’t even forgiven Robert yet. Why should she keep putting herself out there for more cruelty? Her heart and mind battled the emotions trying to break through her anger. Her heart pumped an ache throughout her body. Her hands began to shake. It was stupid of her to get drunk and play games with Michael. Completely selfish and irresponsible. And whatever they had wasn’t logical. How was it possible? She had known Michael mere days, a total of two nights divided by three of the most trying years of her life. With Robert, love had emerged and grown over the years. That was how it supposed to be.  That’s how it worked. This …this was merely lust.
    “Michael, we’re two