“A clean slate then. Though, if we’re to sit here and share this incredible bottle of wine, I feel like you need something to call me, instead of jellyfish girl, which I can only assume is what you’ve called me today.”
“Yeah, nah.”
“Yeah, nah? Bit of a contradiction, don’t you think?”
“Nah, yeah.”
I snorted. “Now you’re just confusing me.”
His smile brightened. He barely resembled the brooding, unreadable man he was mere minutes ago. Like a weight had lifted the second I agreed to his suggestion that we keep our true identities a secret. For me, it was like receiving a gift on a silver platter. Didn’t have to worry about him digging into a past from which I was still desperately trying to free myself. But why was he so insistent on keeping his identity a secret? What skeletons lurked in his closet?
“It’s an Aussie thing. Yeah, nah means no. And nah, yeah generally means yes, but it truly depends on the context.”
“So since you said yeah, nah that means you didn’t think of me as jellyfish girl today. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“Then what did you think of me? In your head, what did you call me?”
A salacious grin flirted on his mouth. “Mrs. Robinson.”
My eyes widened as I playfully smacked his arm. “You did not!”
He brought the wine to his mouth. I shouldn’t have stared, but my gaze was drawn to the gentle bobbing of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. When he lowered the bottle, his tongue slid along his lips, licking off any lingering droplets of wine. My mouth watered, wondering what his lips would taste like. How it would feel to have them pressed against mine. To have his unshaven jawline scrape against my thighs. To savor in his rough hands as they explored every inch of my body.
“You’re right. I didn’t.” He winked before his expression turned more serene. “Belle,” he offered quietly. “I called you Belle.”
“Belle?”
“Because of your accent. A sweet, Southern belle.”
“Belle.” I tested the name on my tongue. “I never really saw myself as a Belle.” Then I flirtatiously batted my lashes. “If I’m Belle, does that make you the Beast?”
He edged closer, the sudden movement taking me by surprise. But not enough for me to curve away from him. If anything, I erased what little space remained between us, a magnet pulling me toward him.
“If that’s what you want me to be,” he growled.
Fucking growled.
That was it. I was officially done for.
And I didn’t mind one bit.