He didn’t move. She lifted an eyebrow, ready to go to battle.

Finally acceding, he put his hand in hers. Turning it over, she noticed the little nicks and scars dotting his knuckles, no doubt from years of playing hockey. Heart beating fast, she brushed her fingertips over the back of his hand before turning it over to get a better look at his injury. The stitches were perfectly lined up, tiny and angry-looking after that smack, but none was torn.

Good. Great. You can let go now, Shelby girl.

She could.

She didn’t.

Instead, she made the mistake of looking up and catching him not glancing down at his thumb but staring directly at her with what sure as hell wasn’t a thank-you-for-checking-on-my-boo-boo look. It was the kind of look that promised the best kind of dirty things and had her shifting on her pillows. There were just so many bad possibilities, the really good bad kind that involved nudity and licking and touching and orgasms for everyone and—

Oh my God, Shelby. Calm the fuck down before you embarrass yourself. He is just looking at you, not getting naked and eating you out by the light of the fire.

And that was a mental image she most definitely did not need in her head right now.

Especially since he hates your guts—and not exactly without cause.

Oh yeah, thanks for that little reminder, asshole who lives in my head.

Pulling herself back from the edge of making a complete fool of herself, Shelby let go of his hand and then sat on hers. It never hurt to be extra careful.

“Ian,” she said, not having any kind of clue what should come next.

He grunted in acknowledgment and God help her, she had to squeeze her thighs together for some kind of momentary release because good dinner plus fireplace plus hot man equaled horny times to her completely unhinged id.

Focus, Shelby.

“I’m sorry about how the story of Alex being your brother got out and my part in it. I hope someday you won’t hate me for it.” The words came out in a rush and without even a hint of forethought because why should her nonexistent filter make an appearance now?

He sat back suddenly, as if she’d stuffed a fresh-made snowball down the back of his shirt and looked over at the fire. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth together before letting out a deep breath.

“Okay, so I’m just gonna turn in now,” she said as she hustled over to the part of the couch were all her stuff was. “Night, Ian.”