AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before he could twenty-second-guess himself, he gripped the steering wheel with his left hand and grabbed her hand with his right. In a vice grip.
“Uncle,” Myra teased, yanking her hand free and shaking it out. “You’re supposed to prove you like me and we’re dating, not have me at your mercy as you break my hand.” She tucked her hand under her other elbow and grimaced.
“Myra …” Ike was about to pull over. “I apologize. Are you all right?”
“Ahh, gotcha! I’m tougher than that.” She grinned and punched him in the arm with her ‘injured’ hand.
“You are.” He grinned. The punch actually stung. He liked that, but he was swimming in deep water around her and there were currents he’d never expected.
She was tough. He’d never sparred with her like the other guys did. He wouldn’t risk hurting a woman, especially her. He didn’t know how he’d react to being close to her, even in a combat-practice situation. He’d been trained to be a lethal weapon, a machine, but he’d let her win if they did fight, and he might reveal how she affected him.
What was he going to do now?
Chapter
Four
Ike brushed his hand through his hair. He should’ve told Myra to forget the ‘touching practice,’ but he wanted her to be comfortable and wanted their relationship to look real so Beau wouldn’t hit on her. If he was honest with himself he wanted to touch her, but he couldn’t let himself go there.
Taking a slow breath, he rested his hand, palm up, on the console between them and said, “Why don’t you show me how this hand-holding garbage is done?”
“First of all, change the attitude or we’re sunk before we’ve begun.” She grinned and pitched her voice low. “‘Myra, show me how to hold hands like the champion I am and convince everybody I am head over heels for you, thereby keeping you safe from the playboy Beau Alexander when you’re fake dating him instead of fake dating me.’”
He couldn’t help but laugh at that diatribe. She seemed to be warming up to this interesting assignment. “Okay.” He pushed out a heavy, overexaggerated breath, rising to her teasing. “Whatever you just said.”
He focused out the window instead of staring at her like he wanted to. He sensed her hand moving and braced himself for impact. The mere touch of their hands would surely engage all his senses and throw his steady world out of balance.
Myra did not disappoint.
Her fingertips glided across the exposed skin of his wrist, slowly, tantalizingly. He could swear fireworks went off in the vehicle and possibly inside his body.
He jerked the steering wheel to the left.
“Whoa.” She laughed, but it was unsteady. Did the touch affect her too? “It’s okay, Ike. We’ll figure this out together.”
Together? He shouldn’t like the sound of ‘we’ or ‘together.’ He gritted his teeth, focused on driving between the dotted lines, and said nothing.
“Here we go. Just a little pressure now. Keep calm.” The teasing note was back in her voice.
A little pressure? Every muscle in his body tightened as if preparing for battle.
She continued to rub her fingertips up and down his wrist a few times, as if she thought she could get him used to her touch. He worried that would never happen. He shouldn’t allow it to, but he had to figure something out for this job.
Her fingers made warmth and an unfamiliar tingling sensation pop up on his skin. On the flipside, his muscles relaxed and he felt as laidback as he had been trained to make his body appear on the outside while on the inside he was prepared for battle at all times. Right now, he didn’t want to fight with anyone. He only wanted to experience Myra and her magical fingers.
She trailed her fingertips along the palm of his hand, slowly, giving him time to savor and catalog the way each inch of his palm came alive as first her fingertips, then the length of her fingers, and then her palm connected with his.
Ike felt all lit up inside. No, that was stupid. He didn’t feel … lit up. Yet, he did.
She threaded her fingers through his and curled them around the back of his hand. He couldn’t catch his breath. They were joined. Nobody could pull them apart. The contact might only be their hands, but it meant everything to him. The connection to Myra was his lifeline, his inspiration, his future.
He jolted and should’ve pulled away, but he did nothing. Well, not completely nothing. He kept driving the car, so he should’ve received bonus points for that. He also let her hold onto him, and he enjoyed every incredible second of their hand holding practice.
“Now you wrap your fingers around my hand as well,” she said softly. This directive wasn’t similar to fighting instruction; it was reminiscent to how somebody would talk to a toddler.
Ike should’ve taken exception to her tone. He should’ve wisely pulled away before he went any deeper down this ‘deeply interested in Myra’ roller coaster. Instead, he did as instructed. He curled his fingers around the back of her smooth hand. It felt natural. As if they were a couple and held hands every day. At the same time, it was so thrilling he doubted he’d ever get used to her touch like she kept proclaiming.
“Good. Perfect.” She sounded out of breath. Ike wanted to look at her, but he didn’t allow himself to. At least he was being strong in some sense.
