Instead, he frowned. “That’s not your story. That’s a brush-off.”
She met his gaze. She could get lost in those eyes—drown in them if she wasn’t careful. She swallowed. For a moment she considered telling him her story. What would he make of it? It didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to. It was a nice thought for a moment, to think that she could tell him who she was, what she’d lived through, and that he might understand or even care. But no.
“Like you didn’t just give me the brush-off, Mr. Boring Banker?”
He held her gaze for a long moment, but he was the first to look away. There. See. She’d been right. He didn’t want to know.
When he looked back at her, he smiled. “Fair enough. So, what do you want to tell me? I’ll take whatever you want to let me in on.”
She shrugged. She wasn’t used to that. She thought about it. It might be tempting to open up to him, but there was no point. By the looks of it, they were going to spend the weekend together. After that, they’d no doubt spend the rest of the semester working together with Dan and then he’d go back to his job and she’d go on to take the bar. If he were going to become a friend, it would only be for the next few months. In which case, he may as well know who and how she was in school; it was the only place he’d ever know her.
She smiled. “I’m driven. I like to be the best. I’m the top of my class in everything I do, except this damned cryptography. Even if I wanted to be, there’d be no beating Dan. Oh, and I’m also a bitch.”
She looked down when his hand rested on her thigh again. It didn’t feel the same this time. It wasn’t sexual, it felt … reassuring? Supportive? She looked up into his eyes, and he shook his head.
“Nah. You do a good impression, and I can see how it fools most people. But you’re not a bitch, Leanne.”
She tried to laugh it off. “You just don’t know me well enough yet.”
He chuckled. “True. But Dan does. And there’s no way he’d hang out with a bitch.”
She blew out a sigh. “I knew it was a bad idea to buddy up with him. He was bound to give me away. He’s such a sweetheart.”
Ryan held her gaze for a moment. “He’s a good guy. And he’s a good judge of character. I’ll be honest. I think I’d be taken in by the front you put up if it weren’t for Dan.”
She looked deep into his eyes and again had that feeling of wanting to open up to him, of wanting him to open up to her. But it passed. It had to. “Likewise. At first, I couldn’t understand how he was so friendly with you. I thought you must just be using him.”
“I’m not—”
She held her hand up. “I know. He’s too smart to let that happen and he genuinely likes you. That tells me that despite all the evidence to the contrary, you must be okay.”
He laughed. “What evidence to the contrary?”
“Err, come on. Big, beefy, good-looking dude. Full of himself. Runs his mouth—”
“Hey!”
She jumped as he squeezed her leg hard but couldn’t help laughing. “What?”
“Take that back.”
“Which part? It’s all true.”
“I never run my mouth.”
She laughed. “I suppose not. Okay. I take that bit back. But nothing else.”
He was smiling at her through pursed lips. It made her want to kiss him. But no.
“Hmm.” He rubbed his chin as if he were thinking it over. “What else was there? You said, big, beefy, good-looking.” He swaggered his shoulders. “All true. I’ll take it.”
She rolled her eyes. “And full of yourself.”
He nodded agreeably. “With good reason.”
She had to laugh. “You’re something else, do you know this?”
He nodded again and held her gaze. “I am. Especially in bed.”
“Oh, my God!”
He laughed. “That or Oh, Ryan! or even just Yes, yes, yes!”
She slapped his arm.
“What? You think I’d make claims I can’t live up to?”
She held his gaze afraid to admit that, no, she didn’t.
He smirked. “I’ll ask you in the morning if I lived up to them all.”
She picked up her second drink. She was eager to get out of here now. Eager to find out just how good he was. And of course, she wanted to hear that she’d lived up to her own standard too—she liked to be the best.
~ ~ ~
Ryan unlocked the front door and let her go in ahead of him. Jesus, he was hard. He’d had some stage of a boner ever since the library. Now they were finally back at his place, he intended to put it to good use.
He’d had fun with her this afternoon. What he’d thought would be a quick drink before they came back here had turned into a couple of hours talking and laughing and flirting. She was fun. Smart as whip. She was tough, too. She didn’t pull any punches. And she held her own. He’d given as good as he got when she’d started busting his balls about the Raiders. Not only did she know her football, she also knew how to argue. She was going to make one hell of a lawyer.
She stopped inside the hallway and waited while he locked the door behind them. He was tempted to press her up against the wall, push her skirt up around her waist, and take her right there. He’d guess she was half expecting that. Which was only part of the reason why he didn’t.
It was crazy—or at least it was out of character for him—but he didn’t want to do that because he hadn’t even kissed her yet. Like that mattered? They both knew what this was, and it wasn’t about kisses and romance. It was about getting into each other’s pants and fucking like bunnies. But something inside him needed it to be just a little bit more. He’d never see her again after this semester was over. She probably wouldn’t even give him another thought, but if she did—hell, when he remembered her—he wanted them to have the memory of an amazing first kiss as well as—hopefully—the best sex either of them had had up to this point in their lives.
She cocked her head to one side, and he realized that he was standing there with the keys dangling from his hand. He smiled and gestured for her to go through to the living room. He was right. She hadn’t expected that.
She went to the bay window that looked out onto the back yard. “It’s a nice place. Do you live here, or is this just while you’re at school?”
“It’s just for school.” He didn’t want her to start getting into a bunch of questions about where he lived the rest of the time, or where the bank was.
He went to stand behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed, and he had to wonder if she was anywhere near as brazen and worldly as she made out. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something that didn’t ring true about the bold, badass bitch she presented. There was something much softer on the inside. He just knew it.
He swept her long blonde hair aside and kissed the back of her neck, loving the way goose bumps broke out on her skin. He desperately wanted to close his hands around her amazing breasts, but he resisted. He still wanted to kiss her first.