Page 38 of Cheater and the Saint

“No.” I tossed my empty bag in the closet before turning to face him. “I’m actually a serial killer, and I had to make a quick change of clothes, because my other ones were covered in blood.” I sighed at his blank expression. “Yes, Leo. I go to the gym.”

A goofy grin appeared on his face. “You’re so morbid.”

“And you’re so annoying. And in my way.” I scooted past him and went to the bedside table to plug my phone into the charger.

“Why are you being frosty, Frosty?” Leo asked, sounding a bit too amused at himself.

That’s it.

I charged at him, getting chest to chest. He was about three inches taller than me, but that didn’t stop me from squaring up with him.

“What’s your deal, Leo? You stormed out of here yesterday like a bat out of hell, and now you’re acting like nothing happened. You can’t do crap like that, and then expect everything to be okay. Because it’s not.”

The humor left his gaze and his jaw tightened. “It’s in the past, Saint. Sorry I freaked on you, but there’re things about me you don’t understand, and there’s no point in sitting here dwelling on that shit, all right?”

“Fine.”

“Fine,” he echoed, staring into my eyes with a hardened expression.

Shit. Of course, I’d notice that his dark eyes were surrounded by equally dark, long lashes, and that there were specks of a lighter brown around his pupils—how his eyes had that permanent bedroom look to them.

I looked at his mouth, seeing the heart-shaped curve to his lips and wondering if they were as soft as they looked.

Leo pressed more against me, placing a hand on my waist. His gaze darted from my eyes down to my mouth. Holy fucking shit, he was leaning in. His breath tickled my lips, and the heat of his body sent shivers through mine.

I wanted it to happen. I did. But my fear was greater.

I jerked back from him so fast that my leg hit the bed, and I tumbled backward onto the mattress. Which, you know, wasn’t the smartest idea—falling on a mattress around Leo.

He smirked down at me. “Have a nice trip?”

“Shut up,” I growled.

“Are you always so graceful when a guy tries to kiss you?” He was definitely having way too much fun at my expense.

All joking aside, I stood and met his amused stare with a contemplative one. “Why did you try to kiss me?”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“What?”

“That’s how stupid your question was, Frosty,” Leo responded. Then, he stepped forward and bent to my level, taking my face in his hand. “Me wanting to kiss you doesn’t need to have a reason, other than I want to.”

“I don’t know why you’d want to,” I said, trying—and failing—to understand his motives behind it.

Guys like him didn’t give me the time of day.

Leo still held my face and got on his knees in front of me, between my legs. “Well, do you know why the sky is blue?”

“Because the molecules in the air distribute blue light more than they do red light from the sun,” I answered. “It’s also why the sky looks redder at sunset, because the blue molecules are out of our line of sight.”

Leo blinked. “Okay. I didn’t expect you to know that.” A shy smile touched his lips. “Wow. Never had that happen before. I expected you to be like, ‘No, Leo,’ and then I would’ve said, ‘You don’t have to always understand the why of it, in order to appreciate it.’ I was gonna be all philosophical and witty. You threw me off my game.”

I laughed. “Good. Serves you right to be knocked down a step from your pedestal.”

I was expecting another clever remark from him; for him to show me up or something.

He surprised me with a kiss.