Anything You Want by Erin Nicholas

her throughout her performance. And she’d loved it. She almost never noticed specific people in the crowd, but it seemed that she couldn’t avoid watching Marc.
    They hadn’t touched. She resisted the urge to touch his arm or even brush against him. It was like she wound so tight that one touch would release…something. She was too afraid to find out what it was.
    Or was she?
    She snuck a glance at him as he drove. He was chomping on a piece of gum and staring, almost angrily, out the windshield.
    He was good-looking. That wasn’t exactly a revelation. She’d known Marc for years and it was an established fact that he was a good-looking guy. But she’d never been attracted.
    Or had she?
    These questions were driving her crazy. She’d never felt this chemistry, never thought about kissing him, never wanted to kiss him—or anything else.
    And now that she was thinking about it, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
    “Knock it off,” he growled, not looking at her.
    “What?”
    “You’re staring at me.”
    “I was thinking.”
    He cleared his throat. “About what?”
    “Why do you think there’s sexual tension between us now when there hasn’t been before?”
    He looked at her quickly, then back to the road. “Just put that right out there why don’t you?”
    She’d gotten used to being bold growing up. Being direct and specific about what she wanted and needed and was thinking was necessary to be sure her dad heard her. When she left home, she’d learned that being vague got vague results. Bold and fearless. That’s what got ahead in the world.
    And he wasn’t denying the tension.
    “Is there a reason we shouldn’t talk about it?”
    “It’s awkward, don’t you think?” he asked, staring resolutely at the road in front of the car.
    “It’s awkward whether we talk about it or not.”
    “It’s easier to ignore when we don’t talk about it.”
    He had a point. On the other hand, ignoring things rarely made them better. “Why ignore it?”
    “How many reasons do you want?”
    “Four.”
    “One, Luke. Two, we don’t like each other. Three, you’re leaving in the morning never to return. Four, Luke.”
    That had been pretty easy for him. She frowned. “One, sexual tension between us has nothing to do with Luke. Two, as you said earlier, you don’t have to like me to want to see me naked. Three is negotiable. Four, you don’t want me to be involved with Luke anyway so I would think my being attracted to someone else would be a good thing.”
    He scowled at her. “One, sexual tension between us would upset Luke—to say the least. Two, wanting to see you naked and seeing you naked are different things. Three is not negotiable. Four, why can’t you be attracted to someone who lives in Dublin or something? Why me?”
    She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Dublin? Ireland? Why there?”
    “It’s far away.”
    “Ah. And why you? Hell if I know. I’m as surprised as you are.”
    He pulled into a motel parking lot. “It’s probably hero worship.”
    She looked at him, waiting for the punch line. He parked the car and turned off the ignition then moved to open the door. “What’s probably hero worship?”
    “How you’re feeling about me.”
    She snorted. “There are two words wrong with that. Hero and worship. You’ve been anything but a hero to me for as long as I’ve known you and I think you need to look up the definition of worship if you think that’s how I feel.”
    He turned in his seat to face her, pinning her with a direct stare. “I haven’t been a hero to you? You’re in Laramie, Wyoming rather than Soggy Swamp. Who did that?”
    “You brought me here to put me on a plane.”
    “I could have left you alongside the road.”
    “You came to save Luke, not me.”
    “I bought you dinner.”
    “I’m paying you back.”
    “You know, Seattle, you could be a little grateful.”
    She sat looking at him. This was Marc Sterling. He thought she was selfish and