Page 13 of Until Ace

He touched me only once, and just for a brief moment, but he seared himself on my skin. I can still feel it.

I glance up to get a look at him once more.

Watching him walk is thrilling enough that all the heat and tingling in my belly move south, but I know I will have to face him again soon. That’s torture all on its own.

He is everything I want but also someone I can never have.

Before I have time to decide whether I should run and hide in the break room again or stay and put on a brave face, I’m left without a choice.

“Mandy.” My name vibrates with his deep, scratchy voice. “I need you.”

Hearing his words, my legs go weak.

Thank God I’m sitting down. Otherwise, I would fall flat on my face.

“Uh….” I have no idea what to say.

“We need to talk,” he says, watching me as I stand up and come down from the platform. The way he tracks my every move makes me feel on display more than ever before. And it’s my job to be on display.

When I stay quiet and just stare at his face—deep-brown eyes, a wide nose, and a black short beard surrounding lush lips—he smiles. Seeing it, I can barely keep my mouth from dropping open and salivating at the sight.

“About last night,” he clarifies.

I know he wants to ask me why I was so hopeless last night, but I can’t tell him.

I can’t tell him that finding out who my brother fucked over scared me so much that, for once, I let my walls crumble and exposed the agony I live in to sweet old ladies.

The fear. The loneliness.

I also can’t tell him how much seeing him standing there in that kitchen, looking at me the way he did, rocked me to my core. How, since that moment, I’ve felt a pull toward him. How every fiber of my being screams in agony, and only he is the balm. It’s just too crazy.

So, like every woman, I play dumb. “What about last night?” I try to come up with some excuse as to why I was such a mess last night without having to tell him the truth. But he surprises me again.

“We need to talk about the fact that you ran away before I even got a chance to ask you out.”

He says this so casually, like we’ve known each other for years and like it’s no big deal, when everything about the man standing before me is, in fact, a big deal.

“I didn’t run away.” I cross my arms over my chest, pushing my boobs up, which I’m pleased to note doesn’t escape him. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I’m glad he noticed.

“You did.” He smirks. “But I’m here to rectify that and take you out to lunch.”

All my false bravado disappears from me.

What is it today with people inviting me to eat with them?

“I’m sorry; I can’t. I already had lunch, and it’s a busy day.” It’s a total lie, but he can’t know that. Grateful I managed to come up with some excuse, I breathe a silent sigh of relief.

“Okay,” he drawls, looking around the almost empty dealership. “How about dinner then?”

“I…,” I start, but he comes closer and skims my arm. At his touch, the heat and tingles intensify, and a shockwave sweeps through me, the same as last night.

“It’s just dinner, Mandy,” he says softly so only I can hear.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” I look up, swaying when I see his face so close to mine, and my breath becomes shallow.

His gaze bores into mine, looking into the deepest part of me. The fucked-up thing is that, on some level, I want him to see all of me. I want him to know every little detail about me. But if he finds all of that out, he will turn around and walk away from me.

It’s crazy. We just met, but down to my soul, I know that if he cast me aside after I gave him a chance, I wouldn’t survive it. It’s better if he doesn’t get the opportunity to do it.