“I don't believe in regrets,” I lied. I had a shit tonne of them, but after that confession, I was willing to say anything to get him that little bit closer. To make him help me forget about anything bad so I could bury myself in all his good.
“I think we both know that’s a lie. But let’s just say it wasn’t for a moment…” He moved even closer, until all I could breathe in was him. “What would you want to happen here, now… with me?”
“I probably shouldn’t say when we're trying to remain enemies.”
“Is that what you really want? For us to keep hating on each other?”
“If we don’t, I’m in danger of breaking the one rule I put in place for this holiday.”
“What rule?” His brows pulled tighter.
“No men,” I admitted. “No matter how handsome and charming.”
“You have a no men rule in place?”
“I… did.”
Henry took a moment to study me before he took a step even closer, forcing my chin to tilt higher. Another moment of silence passed between us before he carefully pulled a single hand out of his pocket and traced my rosy cheeky with his knuckle, trailing it over my skin far more delicately than I'd have ever thought him capable. He tracked his own movements as his fingertips brushed past my ear to tuck a stray lock of hair behind it. When he looked back into my eyes, I thought the connection between us would cause us both to burst into flames.
“Who hurt you?” he asked quietly.
“What?” I whispered up at him.
“You heard me. Who hurt you enough for you to put a rule like that in place?”
“I… Nobody important.”
“Important enough to make you want to stay away from all men because of whatever he did to you.”
The sting of Rob’s betrayal against the tenderness of Henry’s touch had my emotions all over the place. “Truthfully? I have no idea what I want anymore, Henry. I’m a mess.”
“You’re not.”
“I feel it.”
“Well, you’re not.”
“You’re just trying to be nice.”
“When have you ever known me to be nice?”
“You make an excellent point.”
“Phoebe?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you have any idea how hard I'm finding it right now not to touch you in all the places you’ve got covered right now?”
I froze in place, too scared to move in case I’d misheard him or if reality somehow came crashing back with the single movement of a butterfly’s wing, making it all seem like nothing but another daydream I’d got myself caught up in.
“You have no idea how much restraint I’m having to place on myself to stop my fingers from roaming down your chest and dipping beneath that skimpy little piece of material you call a bikini, do you?”
“I… did not know that, no,” I answered breathlessly.
“Not even with how much I’ve been devouring you with my eyes all day? How many hints I've been giving you about wanting you?”
“You're too unpredictable for me to know what you want unless you say it.”
