Page 91 of Sigma

“Not always?”

I shake my head. “There’ve been a few boys who captured my heart.” I flip a hand. “For a while, at least. But they can’t hold my interest, much less my heart. So it always ends up in an amicable enough break up, and there’s someone new the next time I go out with Bryn and the others.”

“How do they capture your heart?”

I roll to my back and look up at the ceiling. “They have a cute smile. It makes my heart go pitter-patter, you know?”

He shakes his head. “No, I do not know. My heart has never…” he flaps a hand. “Gone pitter-patter.”

I snicker. “No, I suppose not.”

He gives me a look. “And that’s all it takes? A cute smile?”

“No. They’re funny. They have good manners.” I pause, think. “Inevitably, they find out who my dad is, and how they react decides a lot. If he’s all awed and gooey about it, see ya. If he tries to get stuff out of me, see ya. But if he’s cool about it? Sure, we can play.”

“So you like nice, cute, good boys.”

I snort. “Yes. Island boys with good hair and sexy skin and a killer grin and tight little bodies. Or tourist boys with expensive smiles and expensive haircuts who are only in the islands for a few days.”

“Boys.” He says this derisively. “Island boys. Tourist boys. All boys.”

I nod. “Yeah. And maybe that’s why they can’t hold my interest.”

“You said they can’t hold your heart.”

“Right. They can’t.”

“What does it take to hold your heart?”

I laugh. “Dunno. No one’s ever done it.”

“I am not nice.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“But I like to think I have good hair.”

“And a killer grin, and a tight body, and a sexy skin,” I say, smirking at him.

“If you insist.”

“I do.”

“What I am not, is a boy.”

“I’ve noticed this as well.”

“So, then…I don’t seem to be your type.”

I shrug. “I’ve already said I can’t explain it,” I say, gesturing between us. “I just know that at some point, I lost my damn mind. I can’t seem to stop wanting you. Something about you makes me crazy. I know it’s crazy. I know that this is…it won’t end well. It can’t. But I also can’t seem to bring myself to care.”

He sighs. “I’ve never known anyone like you,” he says. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but not you. Not the person you are. Your beauty. Your courage.”

“It’s not courage, Apollo,” I say with a wry laugh. “It’s insanity.”

“What I was expecting least of all was this.” He traces a fingertip over my breast.

I frown, giggling. “What, boobs? You didn’t expect boobs when you kidnapped a girl?” I laugh. “Didn’t you have photos of me or something creepy?”