gorgeous? She was a runner-up for Miss Virginia.”
Kepler frowned. “What’s that?”
“A beauty pageant,” Holly explained, aware she sounded like the bitter younger sister but unable to stop her confessional now that it had started. “That’s how pretty and perfect she is—people used to give her trophies just for being attractive.”
“So? Take it from someone who knows a thing or two about trophies—they’re exciting and validating for about a day, but as soon as you wake up the next morning there’s someone new trying to win it away from you. You said yourself that your sister spends all of her time swanning around with her friends, whereas you have your own business, doing a job you’re great at in a field you love.”
“Of course, because every little girl dreams of a career in sports PR.” She exhaled wearily. “I learned early on to distinguish myself with intellectual achievements, and it’s fair to say I could be pretty arrogant about them. I hardly ever dated in high school because whenever I thought a guy was interested in me, it turned out he just wanted my advice on how to ask out my sister. But you can’t be rejected by someone you deliberately push away in the first place.”
His eyes were clear and steady as they held hers. “Some men are more easily pushed than others. But that does give me an idea—maybe I should ask your sister for advice on how to get you to go out with me.”
Holly’s jaw slackened in shock. Genuinely lost for words, she could do nothing more than stare at him dumbly. He’d spent almost every day of the last three weeks either arguing against or blatantly disobeying her every instruction, and now he was flirting?
After a minute of awkward silence, he sighed. “What are we doing, Holly?”
“I have no idea. I’m really embarrassed about what happened in my car.” Her face flushed at the mere mention of the incident. “I’ve never been that forward with anyone, ever. I don’t know what got into me.”
Kepler leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and appeared to study the patterned carpet. “Do you regret it?” he asked after a thoughtful pause.
“Yes, of course,” she said automatically. “I thought we were partnering so well until then. We gave into a stupid impulse and now there’s all this tension between us. Don’t you regret it too?”
“I regret the way we left it. And I can see your point. Perhaps we moved too quickly. But I don’t regret touching you. Not for a second.”
His words evoked a sudden, visceral memory of his hand warming her breast beneath her rain-damp shirt, his tantalizing exploration between her legs, the delicious contraction in her pelvis as he’d pushed his finger inside.
There was hunger in his expression as he gazed at her from the other end of the couch, and she knew he was reliving those few moments too.
Holly forced a ragged breath into her lungs. If she wasn’t careful they’d end up right back where they started, and in three weeks they’d be having this same conversation.
“I never know where you’re coming from,” she offered. “One minute you’re skipping events and refusing to answer the phone, and then you’re trying to ask me out. Which is it going to be, Kepler?”
He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his arms, and she could practically see his guard going up.
“Which would you prefer? My interest in you is real. The public persona you’re creating for me is not.”
“Why do I have to choose? Why can’t you turn up to an interview and rattle off some pre-written anecdotes? Afterward we’ll go out for dinner and laugh about it.”
“What about all your professional boundaries?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “What about all that panic in Ballantyne when you thought someone might see us together and get the wrong idea?”
And what about the fact that she was privy to LKC Energy’s plan to auction him off at the end of this season?
Holly swallowed
Kepler frowned. “What’s that?”
“A beauty pageant,” Holly explained, aware she sounded like the bitter younger sister but unable to stop her confessional now that it had started. “That’s how pretty and perfect she is—people used to give her trophies just for being attractive.”
“So? Take it from someone who knows a thing or two about trophies—they’re exciting and validating for about a day, but as soon as you wake up the next morning there’s someone new trying to win it away from you. You said yourself that your sister spends all of her time swanning around with her friends, whereas you have your own business, doing a job you’re great at in a field you love.”
“Of course, because every little girl dreams of a career in sports PR.” She exhaled wearily. “I learned early on to distinguish myself with intellectual achievements, and it’s fair to say I could be pretty arrogant about them. I hardly ever dated in high school because whenever I thought a guy was interested in me, it turned out he just wanted my advice on how to ask out my sister. But you can’t be rejected by someone you deliberately push away in the first place.”
His eyes were clear and steady as they held hers. “Some men are more easily pushed than others. But that does give me an idea—maybe I should ask your sister for advice on how to get you to go out with me.”
Holly’s jaw slackened in shock. Genuinely lost for words, she could do nothing more than stare at him dumbly. He’d spent almost every day of the last three weeks either arguing against or blatantly disobeying her every instruction, and now he was flirting?
After a minute of awkward silence, he sighed. “What are we doing, Holly?”
“I have no idea. I’m really embarrassed about what happened in my car.” Her face flushed at the mere mention of the incident. “I’ve never been that forward with anyone, ever. I don’t know what got into me.”
Kepler leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and appeared to study the patterned carpet. “Do you regret it?” he asked after a thoughtful pause.
“Yes, of course,” she said automatically. “I thought we were partnering so well until then. We gave into a stupid impulse and now there’s all this tension between us. Don’t you regret it too?”
“I regret the way we left it. And I can see your point. Perhaps we moved too quickly. But I don’t regret touching you. Not for a second.”
His words evoked a sudden, visceral memory of his hand warming her breast beneath her rain-damp shirt, his tantalizing exploration between her legs, the delicious contraction in her pelvis as he’d pushed his finger inside.
There was hunger in his expression as he gazed at her from the other end of the couch, and she knew he was reliving those few moments too.
Holly forced a ragged breath into her lungs. If she wasn’t careful they’d end up right back where they started, and in three weeks they’d be having this same conversation.
“I never know where you’re coming from,” she offered. “One minute you’re skipping events and refusing to answer the phone, and then you’re trying to ask me out. Which is it going to be, Kepler?”
He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his arms, and she could practically see his guard going up.
“Which would you prefer? My interest in you is real. The public persona you’re creating for me is not.”
“Why do I have to choose? Why can’t you turn up to an interview and rattle off some pre-written anecdotes? Afterward we’ll go out for dinner and laugh about it.”
“What about all your professional boundaries?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “What about all that panic in Ballantyne when you thought someone might see us together and get the wrong idea?”
And what about the fact that she was privy to LKC Energy’s plan to auction him off at the end of this season?
Holly swallowed
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