Page 43 of Sunkissed Colorado

“In a smarmy, borderline harassment kind of way.”

“Come on, now. I was being cute and flirty! I’m never smarmy. I’m adorable.”

Zandra laughed. “You’re ridiculous is what you are.”

“Look, you were one of the prettiest girls in our class. One of the smartest too. It was only natural I’d respond to that. And I do plenty of stupid things, but I don’t lie.”

Her dark eyes studied me, and then she swallowed. “I get that. Um, I’m better now.”

“Better?”

“The ice cream headache. Thanks.”

“Ah.” I lowered my hand, resting it on the table behind her and angling my body toward her. “What about you? Were you into me in high school?”

She snorted. “Absolutely not.”

“Who’s the liar now?”

“I wasn’t into you,” she insisted.

“Then how do you explain all the tension between us every day in English class?”

We’d been leaning closer as we talked, and in the sunlight, the details of her stood out. The way her dark lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, the tiny freckle beside her lips.

We were just centimeters apart. All I had to do was inch forward slightly, and I could taste her. My heart hammeredagainst my ribs as I imagined how soft her lips would be. How she might sigh against my mouth.

“Callum,” she whispered, eyes wide. “What are you doing?”

Shit. Just like that, the moment was over, and I sat back.

It would’ve been foolish to kiss her, and not just because she didn’t want me to. We were competing for the same manager position. We were supposed to work closely together for the next couple months.

Worse yet, it could get back to her grandfather if we messed around and it didn’t end well. Bad idea.

But sometimes the bad ideas were the most fun…

I stood up, brushing off my sweats. “Guess I should take off. Thanks for the ice cream. Gotta get home and change before my shift at the bar. See you at Hearthstone in a bit?”

“Yeah. I’m ready for you to teach me everything you know.”

“Only if you teach me all the numbers shit.”

“Yep. Numbers shit. My favorite course in business school.”

Grinning, I headed back inside, putting our dirty spoons in the sink and the carton in the trash, and then went for the door.

“Don’t forget your groceries.”

When I turned around, Zandra was holding out the bag with my cereal, the weird yogurt, and the pancake mix.

“Right. My super important groceries that I was very eager to get.” I took them from her.

Her dark lashes fluttered, and she tugged her lower lip with her fingers. Damn, she was pretty. “See you later, Callum.”

“Bye, Z. See you later.”

I’d called her Z. And she didn’t even complain about it.