Free Huddle With Me Tonight by Farrah Rochon Page B

occurred when they touched hit her again, and this time it spread all over her body.
    His voice, when he spoke, was low. Seductive. “Will you let me prove that to you, Paige?”
    She tried to speak, but the words would not surface.
    “Excuse me, Mr. Smallwood?”
    At the interruption, they both snapped to attention. Paige wasn’t sure if she should be disappointed or relieved.
    Two girls, who couldn’t be more than sixteen years old, held out napkins. “Can we please have your autograph?” they asked in unison.
    Torrian turned his attention to his fans, smiling up at them both. For the first time, Paige noticed a difference. The smile on his face now was indulgent; it didn’t encompass his whole face the way it had when he’d smile at her. This was his game face. He’d given her the real thing.
    When he’d signed the napkins and taken pictures with both girls on their camera phones, he turned back to her. “Sorry about that.”
    Paige waved off his concern with a flick of her chopsticks, deciding it was for the best that they had been interrupted. “It’s to be expected. I’m not sure how much I’d want your life,” Paige said. “I like my privacy.”
    “You have a fair amount of fame yourself.”
    “Not really, you hadn’t heard of me before this all happened.” She grinned.
    “No, I hadn’t,” he said, “But apparently I’m the exception, if the number of people who read your blog is any indication.”
    Paige shrugged. “There’s a measure of anonymity in writing for the paper. I like that I can let my voice be heard but maintain a low profile. This situation with you has given me a bit more attention than I’m used to.” She felt the smile tipping up the corner of her mouth. “I have to admit to enjoying it just a little.”
    “Happy I could help with that,” he said, his voice a mixture of amusement and heat.
    “Um, Torrian? What’s happening here?” Paige asked as nonchalantly as she could. Her heart rate had been on continual escalation mode since the moment he’d reached over and traced his fingers along hers.
    “We’re having dinner,” he answered, that smile still on his face, his voice still as seductive as a candlelit dinner with champagne and strawberries.
    “You know what I mean,” she said. “Just a day ago we were mortal enemies.”
    He stared at her, the look in his eyes intensifying. “Of all the things I’d like to be to you, your enemy is dead last on the list.” The lone candle flickering from the small blue bowl in the center of the table cast a shadow across his strong, smooth jaw. “You feel this,” he said, the words low, seductive, intense. “I feel you shiver every time I touch you.”
    Paige tried to speak but couldn’t. She wanted to deny his words, but how could she when they washed over her with such delicious warmth? She did feel it. This buzz of sexuality pulling between them, as if they were two magnets trying desperately to meet, but being pushed apart by the discord between them.
    “We shouldn’t feel this,” Paige said. “We… This isn’t right.”
    Torrian captured her hand. “What’s not right about it?”
    Paige jerked her hand away, but her eyes were still imprisoned by his deep, dark gaze. “What about everything that’s been said?” she reasoned. “I can’t go from despising you one minute to…to not despising you the next.”
    “You already have,” he said. “Can’t we just agree that we jumped to the wrong conclusions about each other before really getting to know one another?”
    “We don’t know each other now.”
    “I want to change that.”
    “Why?” she asked, hating the pleading in her voice.
    “Because I want to know you, Paige. I’m attracted to you.” He pushed the platter of sashimi to the side and caught her other hand. “We’re attracted to each other,” he amended. “Whether it’s just physical, I’m not sure, but don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to figure that out?”
    Paige’s