The Perfect Mistake (The Connovan Chronicles #2)

by Olivia Hayle

“Isabel,” he mutters. “Stop looking at me like that.” “Like what?” “Like you want me, too. Like you’re okay with this.” “What if I do, and I am?” I ask. My heart is galloping. Want me too, he said. Alec shakes his head, slowly, but his eyes don’t waver. “You shouldn’t be.” “Don’t tell me what I should feel.” His eyes spark. “Not even when it’s in your best interests?” “No,” I say. Those three beers coupled with a pounding heart make me brave. “Not even then. Alec… Why are you still up?” “You know why,” he says. My stomach tenses. Yes, I do. “Maybe I just want to hear you say it.” There are a few sweet, tense seconds where the silence between us thickens. When I don’t know what he will do or say, if I have pushed it too far, or not far enough. Alec’s hands tighten into fists at his sides, and his shoulders rise and fall as if he’s fighting an inner battle. But in the next second, he’s closing the distance between us. He slides his hand beneath my jaw, and gently tips my head up. “I care more than I should.” The words feel like a caress. “What are you going to do about it?” I whisper. He shakes his head, a slow, small movement that’s weighted with frustration. He lowers his head, his mouth ghosting over mine. “I don’t know, Isabel.” He groans, and it sounds like it’s pulled out of his soul. “I don’t fucking know.”