Page 52 of Red Card


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“You should. Europe is an amazing place, to live, to visit.”

When I pull my arm back to shoot, the tip blows past the balls, missing them entirely, and I can hear the low chuckle from Cillian behind me.

“Like this,” he murmurs, and then I feel the heat of his hard body behind me, his breath causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise and send my heart into overdrive.

His palm covers mine on the pool cue, and then he’s bending me slightly farther, lining the tip up with the rack. His fingers are strong and warm against my skin. My breath stutters as my pulse begins ricocheting inside me.

God, he’s so close that I’m having a hard time focusing on anything but him.

“Rory?”

I twist to face him, and now we’re so close that I can practically count the constellation of light freckles that are scattered along the bridge of his nose.

His dark, thick lashes fan out along his cheeks as his gaze drops to my lips and lingers there, as if he’s thinking of… kissing me, orsomething.

“You have the most beautiful eyes,” he breathes quietly as he lifts his gaze back to mine. “And I really fucking want to kiss you.”

I swallow. “Y-you do?”

He nods. “Fuck yeah, I do.”

Holy shit. I mean… is this even fake right now?

Because this doesn’t feel like pretend. I am pretty sure that my panties are soaked, and I’m going to pass out any second in this stupid bar from how hard my heart is pounding in my chest.

The song changes around us, suddenly much louder, the heavy bass causing the glasses on the table behind us to clink together loudly.

And only then am I able to pull myself together long enough to form a real thought.

When I open my mouth to speak, a wide smile flits to his face and he steps back, arching a brow. “A plus, St. James.”

I blink, trying to clear the lusty haze from my head.

I nearly groan.

“That’s it?”

He nods again. “Yeah, and you aced it. See? You took everything you learned and look what happened.”

“Yeah, uh… yeah,” I say, tearing my gaze away as I set the pool cue against the table. I can’t believe I just got so caught up in that performance.

I realize it was an act, a moment in character, but it truly felt like something different.

And also just how badly I wanted it to be real.

Just how much I wanted him to kiss me too.

CHAPTER 18

Cillian

I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions in the last few years. More than I can even count at this point. Probably has a lot to do with the amount of hits I’ve taken to the head since I was a kid.

Butthis?

It might just be the most stupid of them all.

Bloody hell, I know better. I fuckingknow, and still I can’t stop.