Crushing on Love (The Bradens of Peaceful Harbor, Book Four) by Melissa Foster

thought sent the gears in his mind churning again, and he reluctantly stepped back. “It’s getting dark.”
    She stepped forward. “Yes.”
    Her whisper sounded more like an invitation than an agreement about the sun’s rapid departure, and hell if he didn’t want to accept. But he’d never be the type of guy she needed. This couldn’t go anywhere, and he was already teetering on a precarious edge. It took every ounce of his willpower to do the right thing.
    “We should head back. You have a date.” He took another step away, and she grabbed his arm, keeping him in place.
    She looked at him through long, thick lashes and said, “I canceled it.”

    STEVE’S FOREHEAD WRINKLED in confusion, and the conflicted look in his eyes made Shannon’s pulse race even more than their close proximity was causing.
    “Why would you do that?”
    Definitely not the response she’d hoped for.
    “Because I didn’t want to go out with him. I never even agreed to it. He assumed I wanted to go, and you just sat there like you didn’t give a darn one way or another.”
    He wrenched his arm free. “I wish you hadn’t done that. Will’s a nice guy. He would have treated you well and you would have had a good time.”
    “You didn’t hear what I said. I didn’t want to go.”
    He looked at her with the pained expression she’d seen earlier when Will had made the comment about Steve not working with his father. He ran a hand through his hair and turned away. Had she totally misread him? Had he honestly been messing with her all day?
    “We should get going,” he said gruffly.
    “Wait.” Needing answers, she reached for his hand, and he stilled. “Did you really want me to go out with him?”
    He didn’t steal his hand away, but his serious expression sent a chill down her back.
    “What I want doesn’t matter.”
    Doesn’t matter? “I don’t understand. You’ve been hot and cold all day. One minute you’re sucking my finger, the next you’re telling me to go out with your friend. I have no idea where you stand.”
    “Where I stand?” He stepped closer. “Where I stand is right here on this mountain. Where I’ll always stand.”
    She crossed her arms against the sting of rejection. “Come on, Steve. We’ve been playing this game since Rex and Jade’s wedding, which was months ago.”
    “I don’t play games,” he said sharply.
    She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze. “Then what do you call it? You took my cupcake, for God’s sake, and whether you want to admit it or not, you definitely have been flirting with me.”
    “Why does it have to be called anything?” He turned away and ran his hand through his hair again. She realized it was a nervous habit. If he was nervous, that had to mean something.
    “It doesn’t, but…”
    He turned toward her again. “But?”
    “But…I don’t know. Now I feel foolish for bringing it up.”
    His gaze softened and he grumbled a curse. “Well, don’t feel foolish, for Christ’s sake. I do like you.” He reached for her hand and tugged her closer. “But I also respect you.”
    “But…?”
    “We’re saying that word a lot, aren’t we?” His lips curved up in a smile. “But you’re a social butterfly, and I like my solitary life. It doesn’t matter if I like you, or if I find you insanely sexy. Nothing can come of it, so it’s better if we don’t torture ourselves with it.”
    She stepped closer and slipped her finger into the waistband of his pants. “You find me insanely sexy?”
    “Shannon,” he warned, and put his hand on hers to move it from his waist, but she curled her finger tighter.
    “That’s why you wanted me to go out with Will, isn’t it? So I wouldn’t want to go out with you? Or so I would be off-limits?”
    He didn’t respond, but his hand tightened around hers.
    “So you wouldn’t want me?” She closed the sliver of space between them. “Because you’d never hit on your friend’s girlfriend. That’s not who Steve Johnson