Free Tease Me by Melissa Schroeder Page B

in
today.”
    “ I did. I had breakfast
with Dad then reported in. It’s raining like hell and I said I had
something important to take care of so I took my house hunting
days.” Then his gaze traveled down her body. “Did you go running
today?”
    It was then she remembered she was
wearing her workout gear. And she probably stunk. Yep, someone up
there hated her. He was standing there looking like Captain
Freaking America and she smelled like dirty gym socks.
    Life was just not freaking
fair.
    “ Yeah, I do that every now
and then.”
    “ Is there a reason you’re
pissed at me?” Bran asked easily.
    Yes. I love you and you just want
friends with benefits. But she didn’t say anything. She
couldn’t. Not when she had been the person to suggest it. It was
her own fault and that irritated her even more.
    “ No. I thought you were
mad at me last night.”
    He shook his head. “No. I was mad at
the situation and I knew I made a mistake.”
    Her heart sank just a little.
“What?”
    “ I shouldn’t have agreed
to the arrangement.”
    She tried to swallow and found her
throat suddenly dry. “Oh?”
    “ Yeah, Tess, you deserve
more than that.”
    “ No problem.”
    She had to get out of there before she
started crying again. Was it worse that he agreed or that he was
calling it off? Either one sucked. And what he said was true, she
did deserve more, but she also knew he didn’t have it to
give.
    “ Well, if that’s all you
came over for, I need to get washed up. I have plans for
later.”
    He frowned again. How could a man who
had just broken her heart still look so sexy while he was irritated
with her?
    “ What kind of
plans?”
    “ A date.” That was a lie,
but she needed to save face. She would not let him know how much he
hurt her.
    “ I don’t like
that.”
    She crossed her arms again. “Too
bad.”
    If anything his frown turned darker.
“You’re not about to go out with another guy.”
    He said it as if his word was law.
There was a small part of her that found the tone he used
completely and absolutely sexy. Which, in turn, annoyed her.
Seriously, if she always felt like jumping the man’s bones, even
when he was being an ass, she wasn’t ever going to get over
him.
    “ I believe you just said
you didn’t want to be involved with me.”
    “ That’s not what I
said.”
    “ Yes you did.”
    “ No. I said the
arrangement wasn’t to my liking.”
    “ Oh for the love of God,
you are worse than Jesse when it comes to being a
diplomat.”
    “ No. I refuse to accept friends with benefits with the woman I love.”
    “ Seriously, one of these
days you’re going to piss off…Wait, what?”
    Then, he strode to her, determination
on his face. Before she could form a thought, he pulled her into
his arms and kissed her senseless. It took her more than a few
seconds to get her brain to work again.
    She pulled back from the kiss and both
of them were breathing heavily. When she tried to wiggle away, he
tightened his arms.
    “ Bran, let me
go.”
    “ Nope. Never. I refuse
to.”
    “ I know I smell and right
now I need some space between us.”
    He hesitated then released her. She
took a step back and tried to keep her head screwed on
straight.
    “ What did you mean by
telling me you loved me?”
    She hadn’t meant to sound harsh, but
she couldn’t help it. All this time she had been ready to play the
game and now, this irritating man had the nerve to lie to her about
loving her.
    “ I figured since I’m in
love with you, I should tell you.”
    “ Stop it.”
    “ Why?”
    “ It’s not fair. Stop lying
to me.”
    He threw his hands up in the air and
made a sound of disgust. “Dammit, woman, I am not lying to
you.”
    “ Okay. Maybe you don’t
even realize it, but just because I’m not following you around like
a puppy dog doesn’t mean you have to use these tactics. I was the
one who said we could just—“
    “ Yeah, I know,” he said,
growling out the words.
    “ And you agreed. Then