Dirty Deal (A Perfectly Matched Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by Christine Bell

wasn’t even there. No blue eyes. No blond hair. No perfect view down the front of her shirt…
    “And you get in close like this, right?” Her warm breath fanned across his face, and he willed himself to meet her gaze. Damn, that was a mistake. They were still true blue, but slightly more hooded than they’d been before. Like she was just as affected by the proximity as he was, but trying not to be.
    “Then you say something like, ‘Girl, has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes on this planet?’” Her warm breath washed over him, but just when he was most tempted to lean into her soft, inviting lips, she fell back onto her bottom and crossed her legs in front of her. Though, if he was keeping score, he also noted that she didn’t bother to scoot away. Instead they were nearly hip to hip, her body heat radiating off her in waves.
    “Yep, you got me again. But then, also, sometimes I pull over to the side of the road and I put a kitten in a tree just so I can save it later. It’s a roundabout process, but it gets ’em every time.”
    “Logical.” She nodded. “I can dig it.”
    “Don’t you have a move?” He arched a brow toward her.
    “We’re still on my question.”
    “I answered your question. Kittens and haikus, remember?”
    “Bullshit answer.” She scoffed. “I’m totally not counting it.”
    “Then double or nothing if you answer mine.”
    “Do you think I need a move to pick up men?” she asked, making a duck face that should’ve been ridiculous but just made him want to lean in and kiss her.
    He bit back his answer, but even as he tried to look away, his gaze roamed over her body, stopping at her delicate ankles, the space where one long limb crossed over the other. Then higher. His cock jerked as he settled on her breasts, taking in an enticing vee of cleavage beneath her shirt.
    What he wouldn’t give to bury his face between those breasts and suck each of those stiff nipples…
    He swallowed hard past his too-dry throat. “I wouldn’t think so, no.”
    The laughter that had played around the corners of her mouth was gone. Instead, her full pink lips were slightly parted. Poutier than he remembered. Tempting.
    Her tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth, and she swiped it along her top lip, though he was sure it served no purpose other than to drive him insane.
    “That’s my move,” she said, her voice huskier than it had been even seconds before. “If we’re being totally honest.” A smile tugged at her lips as she did it again. This time it was punctuated by her perfect white teeth biting down on her lower lip as she stared at him.
    God, what he wouldn’t give to do that. To close his teeth over those lips. To lick and touch the rest of her…
    But that was an invitation, wasn’t it? She’d shown him her move. Any man worth his salt would respond in kind. Fuck, it would be rude not to. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know the score, or even have a scorecard of her own. She was as anti-relationship as he was. Plus, she knew full well that he was leaving in a few weeks.
    Two adults. Surely there was nothing wrong with enjoying each other while he was still here.
    “Double or nothing, right?” he said, his voice sounding gritty to his own ears.
    She nodded.
    “Well, if total honesty is a rule of this game, I do have a move.”
    “What is it?”
    “I’d rather show you.”
    …
    Questions and answers, moves or poems, none of the crap they’d been spouting off to each other since they’d met mattered in that moment. What mattered was the way he was looking at her, like he was picturing how he was going to rip off every inch of her clothing.
    Her breath caught as he inched toward her. It was like the air itself was charged with his electricity, pinging off her skin and skittering over her nerves. She was aware of every move, every breath.
    And when his mouth slanted over hers? That energy sparked into a fire. She responded without thinking,