Free Slide by Michelle Congdon Page A

growled. “You’re such a―”
    I couldn’t say anymore because he had me in his arms and his mouth was covering mine. I melted at his touch and opened my mouth to welcome him in. Even though I was angry, my body clearly missed him. Realizing what I was doing, I pushed him away before I could get ahead of myself.
    “How dare you!” I hissed, getting up in his face and giving him a hard jab in the chest with my finger. “You lose your mind after what Nick did, and now you’re doing the exact same thing!”
    “Tell me to stop and I will.” His eyes narrowed slightly, challenging me to say the words, as he wrapped his entire hand around my single finger.
    I frowned with irritation, but remained unmoved. “When were you going to tell me that you played professional baseball?”
    The corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk but the look in his eyes never faltered. “About the same time you were going to tell me you were Rupert Montgomery’s daughter.”
    “You’re an ass.”
    “I’ve been called worse. Wait— Why are you mad at me? Is it because I hit that idiot, or because I kissed you and you crave more, or that I didn’t tell you who I was?”
    I opened my mouth to speak, but shut it immediately. I was mad about everything! Where do I begin to tell him that everything about him infuriated me?
    When I finally thought of a good enough response, it left my mind as quickly as it came, when his lips came crashing down on mine again. I should’ve asked him to stop but I couldn’t; my body wouldn’t allow it and deep down I’d be lying if I said I wanted it to stop.
    My mouth parted to allow his powerful tongue to slip inside and take over. Between our needy kisses and our hands running feverishly over each other, I never noticed that I had been pressed up against the wall until we finally pulled away. We were both breathing heavily and my entire body left weak and tingling. “ Shit ,” I whispered, licking my lips together. How was he making me feel all of this?
    “I’ve been craving those kisses. You have no understanding of how badly I’ve wanted to do that since last time,” he said trying to catch his breath.
    “Ryan…” Everything was racing around inside my head. I had so much to say but it was hard to concentrate with my heart bashing hard against my chest. “Come back to my place.” I suddenly slammed a hand over my mouth. Where the hell did that come from? What was wrong with me? This was not the sort of guy I wanted to get involved with!
    Instead of running far, far away in the opposite direction like I should be, I found myself holding on for the answer and preparing myself for the disappointment if it wasn’t the right one.
    He studied me for a moment, “I can’t.” It didn’t look like the answer he had wanted to say but nevertheless it was the one I got.
    “Oh.” Idiot!
    “It’s not because I don’t want to, believe me,” he assured me. “I just have training early tomorrow morning and I live close to the ballpark. But perhaps you could come back to mine?” he asked, taking a loose strand of my hair and twisting it.
    All I could do was stare at him. I knew the answer coming from my eyes was a ‘yes’; jeez, my whole body was just itching to touch him again. But was it the right thing to do? Stop making excuses! You know you want him , my mind hissed.
    “You don’t have to, Evangeline. Especially since today was, you know…”
    Still lost for words, I nodded, trying not to seem overly eager.
    With a small smile, Ryan bent down and kissed my forehead. “Let’s go then.”
     

CHAPTER 8
     
    Other than having his arm around my shoulders and drawing a soft, circular pattern on my arm, Ryan kept mostly to himself, and didn’t say one word the entire cab ride home. The few times I dared to cast a glance at him, he remained in the same position: staring out the window, lost in his thoughts. I found the situation oddly fascinating, as I watched the lights from the street