No way I was going to kiss this guy! Not his type. Not ever! His proximity was driving me insane, and I wanted to step away, but if I did, that would mean he won. "Get your face away from my sight right now or I'll—" "Stare at it some more?" he provided. "I think we both established how much you like my face." Unbelievable! "We didn't establish shit." I snorted. "But you know what? I do like it." His eyes glittered with satisfaction. His smile looked smug until I said, "I like to smash it against a rocky surface." He lost the smile. And since I counted that as a win, I figured it was okay to step away, which I did. As soon as my nose was far enough not to smell his scent, my braincells started activating again. "Look, I'm here to negotiate with you," I said. He looked at me but didn't say anything. And I realized as long as I was gazing in his vivid blue eyes, or his sexy mouth, I couldn't think straight, so I looked at his chest. But that was distracting too, so I looked down at his pants. But the— "Negotiate what?" I jumped at his voice. Blushing, I looked at his ear, what peeked through his hair anyway. "You know," I croaked. I cleared my throat. "About your motorcycle." When he didn't reply, I looked up. The playful glint in his blue eyes was gone. And had turned into danger. I swallowed. I raised my hands in surrender, backing away from him. Away from his murderous glare. But he kept walking toward me, stalking me, looking like a pissed off archangel. "Why don't you start from the beginning?" he whispered. His voice was as soft as a feather, as sharp as a knife. "B-beginning?" I parroted stupidly. I looked behind me, gauging how fast I could reach my car. "Don't even try it," he warned. Nothing pisses me off more than someone telling me I couldn't do it. We looked at each other for a heartbeat. Waiting. Waiting. And then I sprang for the car. I would've made it, but his hand shot out, gripping my arm. His hold didn't hurt at all, but it was firm. The look he shot me told me this wasn't going to be as easy as I hoped it would be. "You're unbelievable," he said. I sighed in defeat. "I won't escape anymore so can you let me go?" I relaxed my arm and his grip loosened. I shook him off. He let go but his stance clearly stated that he was just going to catch me again if I tried to escape. I raked my hands in my hair, gathering my thoughts before I spoke again. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. Sincerely. Because the truth was he was the one wronged. He didn't ask for any of this and even though I wasn't exactly Miss Do-It-Right, I'd try to do my best to make up for it. "I'm really sorry," I repeated. "My brother didn't mean to hit your motorcycle this morning." He closed his eyes, looking like he was praying for patience. I could see the muscle in his jaw ticking. "Your. Brother. Hit. My. Motorcycle." "Well, yeah. You saw what happened this morning, right? That was my brother." I waited a beat. When he didn't reply, I continued. "I have a deal for you. A deal only an idiot can refuse. Want to hear it?" He opened his eyes. He was mad. He didn't speak, just narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you have security cameras here?" I prodded. "Did you call your insurance yet?" Again, he didn't answer. "Listen. I'm taking responsibility. I'll pay for your repairs. In fact, we'll do them." He crossed his arms. I really should shut up, but his silence only made me want to confess my sins more. "We own an auto repair shop. I hope you haven't phoned your insurance yet, but if you have, you can probably phone them and cancel the claim. Tell them you settled. Any higher, Dylan's going to pay his insurance premiums with his first-born child." We looked at each other. I watched as the anger in his blue gaze faded eventually. I could tell he was thinking. "What's in it for me?" I wanted him to respond, but now that he did, I realized I preferred his non-verbal cues. He looked like a cunning fox. "What do you mean? We're doing your repairs for free! You won't have to pay your deductible." Now he looked bored. "The deductible's not a problem." I bet. "Well... we'll add in an extra service." He grinned. I would have smacked his face, but I was trying to get him to show me some mercy, not get executed. It had nothing to do with the way my heart skipped a beat at the sight of that grin. Or what I thought he was thinking by extra service. Nothing at all. Also, it had nothing to do with the way he looked at me. No one had looked at me like that before. Like he wanted me. You're fucking crazy. He has a girlfriend. He's a cheater! I rolled my eyes at the voice in my head. Yeah, duh. I know. It's not a sin to find something beautiful. Even flies like poop. Nothing's going to happen here. Not ever, so zip it! "We'll throw in some add-ons," I continued. "If you like. Some accessories. At a reasonable price. Or we can give you free basic maintenance checks for three months. Pick one." Suddenly I wanted to get away from him. Fast. I pulled out my wallet from my jacket pocket, fished out our business card and shoved it and the flyers in his hand. "Here. All our information is there. Come bright and early tomorrow if you have morning classes. I usually open the shop so I'll be there." I was rambling. "And you... you have my number." I flushed at the reminder of how he got it. I started walking down his driveway back to my car. "Which I totally didn't want to give to you, for your information!" I called out to him. "You caught me in a... private moment and I was totally vulnerable! If you have any objections, tell me now or else I'll take this as a yes!" I got in my car, started it, reversed. My heart was knocking so loudly in my chest it started to hurt. When I stepped on the gas, I let myself breathe. "Good job, good job. You did a great job," I muttered to myself. "He totally agreed." I glanced at my rear-view mirror. And found him standing in the same spot, watching my car before I turned the corner and he disappeared in my sight.