Learning Curves Read Online Free Page B

reached out and grabbed her, pulling her against him. “You okay?” he asked, splaying his hand over the small of her back.
    “Yeah.” She put her hands on his shoulders. “I keep meaning to replace that carpet.” She extricated herself from his arm. “Thank you,” she said.
    “No problem. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I let you fall.”
    “You’d still be all man, just not a heroic one,” she teased. “And thank you for earlier, with Matthew, too. I never did get the chance to say that.”
    The sound of the other man’s name on her lips brought Linc’s molars together with a snap. He wasn’t a particularly possessive man, but the knowledge that he’d had his hands on her body pissed him off. That he’d intentionally embarrassed and hurt her was unacceptable. “The man is an asshole.”
    She grinned. “Did you see his face when you kissed me?” She put her hand over her mouth and stifled a chuckle. Linc grinned at the wickedness she was displaying. Damned if he didn’t like her even more.
    “Yeah, he was so shocked he forgot to check himself out in the mirror.”
    She shook her head, a few strands of hair slipping from that sexy bun. “Oh, he did. You just missed it.”
    Linc laughed then angled his head, his gaze moving over her face. “You want to tell me what that was all about anyway?”
    She crinkled her nose and looked at his chest. “Not really.”
    He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you break his heart or something?”
    She laughed, but it was laced with pain…and something else, something he couldn’t quite identify. “He’s the one who broke up with me, actually,” she admitted quietly.
    “Really?” Shit. Why did that bother him so much?
    “Yeah.”
    The turmoil behind that one word haunted him. His anger rose sure and swift, and brought out his protective side. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”
    She stiffened and wrapped her arms around herself, a defensive move. Okay, so he’d clearly hit a sore spot. Did she still love the guy? He sure as fuck hoped not. For the last year it damn near killed him seeing her with him. He wanted nothing more than to drag her away and show her how a real woman should be treated. But he wasn’t an asshole who horned in on another man’s girl, no matter how much of a douchebag the guy was.
    “Linc, about this weekend.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was either stalling, or choosing her words carefully. “I know this is about sex, and I’m afraid…”
    “Afraid what?”
    “I’m afraid that you’re going to be disappointed.” She waved her hand over her body. “Look at me. I’m not the kind of girl you normally go out with.”
    No, she wasn’t, but there was more going on here. She wasn’t telling him something, and his gut said it had to do with that asshole Matthew. He cupped her chin and tipped it until their gazes met.
    “What did he do to you?” he asked directly, fighting back his anger. If that guy had so much as touched a hair on her head the wrong way, he’d kill him.
    She tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let her. “Nothing…he didn’t do anything.”
    “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me.” He could be patient, when he wanted to be.
    “Look, it’s nothing. He just said I was…boring.”
    “Boring how?”
    “In the…”
    “Answer me.”
    “In the bedroom,” she blurted out. Her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink.
    His heart jumped. Fuck. He should leave right now and go punch the bastard in the throat. But he wouldn’t, because she needed him here with her, and that was more important.
    “He said I couldn’t please him,” she mumbled under her breath.
    He cupped her elbow and pulled her to him as the tumblers began falling into place. Before they went any further, he needed to set her straight. No fucking way would she be boring in the bedroom. He’d known from the first time that he met her. Sensed that she was so much more than she appeared.