Will continues before I can say anything I’ll regret.
“And my favorite moment in the book was absolutely the ladder scene.” He pauses briefly. “I’m willing to bet all of my money it was yours too.” My heart thumps painfully at the nearly wicked look in his eyes as he accurately reads my thoughts.
“How would you know that?” No one else in the world would ever suspect my favorite scene was the steamiest one in the book, but Will does because for some reason, he doesn’t see me quite like everyone else does. In fact, no one else would even guess I like these kinds of books. It’s a secret not even my sisters know because I’ve kept my box of romance novels neatly tucked under my bed, out of sight for years.
And yes, I realize that I’m supposed to be loud and proud about my romance-reading ways, but when you’ve grown up with siblings like mine and those siblings have given you the nickname of Angel Annie and would absolutely roast you every single day for the rest of your life if they knew you loved steamy books with Big Duke Energy, you’d hide the book under your pillow too. This is a secret （along with the box of romance books under my bed） I will take to my death. If anyone ever robs my grave, they’ll be shocked to find me blanketed with shirtless pirates fiercely embracing a lady in a gown that is not even remotely accurate for the era of the book.
But now Will knows my deep dark secret. My body heats up at the thought.
His eyes hold mine. “Because contrary to what everyone seems to say about you, I can see a mischievous spark behind your soft blue eyes, Annie Walker.”
Will’s eyes drop to my lips, and I’m speechless for three heartbeats. Desire fills the air like smoke—thick and heavy—making it difficult to breathe.
“But…you won’t tell anyone, right?” I ask quietly, making Will’s gaze rise up to my eyes again. “Not even about our lessons? I don’t want my siblings to know.”
“Why can’t they know?”
I glance down. “They’ll…they just can’t.” I shake my head. “If they find out, they’ll be full of opinions and suggestions that I don’t necessarily want.” I can hear Emily now—initiating twenty questions until she knows every detail of what I’m planning and suggesting a better way to go about it until I end up caving and doing things her way so that I don’t hurt her feelings. And Maddie will demand to take over as my tutor, and somehow I’ll fall right into the shadows as I always do when my siblings are around.
I look up into Will’s eyes and nearly flinch at how unwavering his gaze is. He’s waiting for me to say more. “I just want to do something for myself for a while—is that bad? It feels wrong.”
“I don’t think it’s wrong, but then I’m an innately selfish person, so maybe I’m not the best person to be asking.”
“You don’t seem selfish to me.”
His fingers tighten ever so slightly around mine and his expression looks almost desperate. “Annie, I need you to know that I don’t do relationships. Ever. And I never will. If we do these lessons you want, they will be as friends and nothing else.”
His words shouldn’t sting. I already know this about him, and I also know that I’m looking for a man completely opposite from him. And yet I feel them like shards of glass. He can’t know that, though.
I lean in even closer. “And I only do relationships. So we’re in perfect agreement.”
His eyes search mine. “So…friends only?”
“Friends only.”
“Great. Then we can start lessons tonight if you’re available.”
It takes all my self-control to not audibly gulp. And because I don’t trust my voice, I simply nod.
I don’t miss the moment his thumb glides over the skin of my hand before he releases it. “I’ll sneak you into my room. Around six thirty?” I barely register that he tosses a little box into my basket because I’m too busy internally panicking over his last statement.
“But how?” I ask while fast-walking down the aisle to catch up to him. “How will you sneak me in? This town has eyes everywhere.”
“Just wait outside the inn for my cue.” Will doesn’t glance back at me. He sets his basket down and leaves the market.
I look down and realize his basket is now empty.
Did he only come in here to talk to me?
At the checkout counter, I set my basket down and begin pulling out items for Harriet to scan. And too late I realize I’m holding, courtesy of Will Griffin, a box of condoms—ribbed for her pleasure.