Free The Best Part of Me by Jamie Hollins Page A

he was thinking about, but she could still feel his warm lips pressed against hers. Her fingers itched to touch him.
    â€œEwan, are you hurt?” She raised her fingers to his temple, where some blood had dried. He turned his head into her touch and closed his eyes.
    â€œNo, I’m not hurt.”
    â€œIs the pub badly damaged?”
    â€œIt’s had worse done to it,” he said with a sigh.
    Quinn slowly ran her hand through his black hair. It was as soft and silky as she’d imagined. His eyes opened, and he studied her as she let his strands slide between her fingers. She rounded her hand to the back of his head.
    â€œI wish you wouldn’t do that.” His deep voice rolled through her like a warm ocean wave. It was one of those statements where you said one thing but you meant the opposite. She lightly stroked the back of his neck, her touch moving along his taut muscles.
    â€œQuinn, stop.”
    Her eyes shot up to his face, and she quickly drew her hand away. She had been tracing her fingers along his neck and shoulders like he was a shiny new sports car. The memory of how she’d felt when that awful guy had run his unwanted fingers along her butt flashed in her head, and she immediately felt ashamed.
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    He looked thoughtfully at her. As if he read her thoughts, he replied, “If you keep touching me, then things are going to escalate.” He inhaled deeply and steadied his gaze on her. “I want you. God help me, I want you badly .”
    Quinn’s heart leapt into her throat. He briefly touched her cheek with his fingertips. Her pulse pounded at the way his eyes drew her in like he had some sort of gravitational pull. The way her skin heated under his touch.
    Questions started flooding her head as she watched him study her face.
    Was she ready for this? Could she be with him?
    There was no denying that she wanted him. She hadn’t realized it until now. She yearned for him so much that her legs were shaking. She had no idea when her feelings for him had gone from annoyed disapproval to all-consuming desire, but she didn’t really care. Even when he was acting like an ass, she had to admit he was gorgeous. Add that to the memory of his mouth and hands on her, and she knew that things might have already tipped past the point of no return.
    It had been a long time since she’d slept with anyone. And at that moment, she realized that she didn’t want anything more than for him to pick her up and carry her to his bed.
    Just as she was about to lean into him, he let his hand drop. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
    Momentarily speechless, she watched him walk to the front door and pull it open. He looked back at her expectantly.
    She blinked at him. She was an intelligent woman. She had graduated in the top ten percent of her high school class and magna cum laude in college. She considered her common sense relatively adequate. Yet she was having trouble wrapping her mind around what was happening.
    â€œI thought—” She stopped, blinked in confusion, and tried again. “You said—”
    He gently shut the door and shook his head.
    â€œYou thought since I said I wanted you that we’d fuck?”
    She winced at his crudeness and at the hint of amusement in his voice.
    He exhaled slowly. “Believe me when I say that it’s probably for the best that we stopped when we did. I’m not right for you.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œYou’ll have to trust me on that.”
    She frowned at him. “Why don’t I get to decide what’s right for me?”
    He shook his head. “I could never give you what you want.”
    â€œThat’s awfully presumptuous of you, isn’t it? What makes you so sure you know what I want?”
    He approached her slowly, his head tilted to the side as he regarded her. “Because I know your type. You’ll be fine with fucking for a while. But