I leaned forward just enough to make my point. “You’re still on the ground, aren’t you?”
His gaze dragged over my face. “What the hell was that?”
“Self-defense.”
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“I’ve been taking classes since I was little. Krav Maga, mostly. Some jiu-jitsu. I don’t get to use it often, so...” I smiled down at him. “Thanks. That was fun.”
“Fun?” he echoed, pushing himself up onto his elbows, leaves caught in his hair.
My fingers itched to pick them out. “You’re not having fun? I could always try a different technique?” I shifted on his lap, causing a bolt of lust between my legs. I should have removed the leaves. It would have been safer than the friction I’d just created. What was wrong with me?
His gaze darkened. “Don’t you know it’s not safe to be alone in the woods?”
I took a moment to study him, which was mad considering what I’d learned about Maddox and his family on Friday night, but something about him didn’t produce those tingles of unease. He gave me a different set of tingles, annoyingly so.
How could I be stupidly attracted to him? Suddenly, the idea of being alone in the woods with Maddox took on a different meaning, and perhaps just as dangerous.
“Why? Do you plan to hurt me?” I asked with a hint of playfulness. I had no clue where it came from. Who was I?
He pushed up on his hands, bringing our faces close. “I could. And who would be the wiser?”
I tilted my head, a faint smile touching my lips because apparently fear and curiosity were the same thing in my brain. “Try me. I dare you.”
Am I flirting with him? Who am I?
I’d never flirted a day in my life.
His light-green eyes narrowed, and I watched his expression shift. Surprise, maybe. Or reassessment. “You don’t react like other girls. I can’t figure you out.”
“You want me to be some helpless girl who can’t take care of herself, right?” The challenge hung between us. “That’s the assumption you’re working with?”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He said it flatly, like I’d insulted him by suggesting otherwise.
At least he had some standards. I’d seen plenty of guys who had no qualms about harming a woman. “So, the famous Maddox Corvo has morals. That’s not what I heard.”
He snorted softly. “I just bet. What can I say? My reputation precedes me.”
It wasn’t lost on me that we were having an entire conversation with me in his lap. Why wasn’t I moving? And when the hell had his fingers come to splay over my hips, as if he wanted to keep me on top of him. “Does it bother you?” I asked. “What people say about you?”
“Should it?”
“Most people care what others think.”
He had this intensity about him that made me want to sway toward him. “I’m not most people.”
I huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking my head, but I didn’t move. Not yet. Because for some reason…I wasn’t in a hurry to let him go. “Neither am I.”
His thumb stroked over the exposed skin just over my waistband. “So, I’m learning.”
Was he touching me on purpose? Intentional or not, he was making my head fuzzy. “At least I know I can take you.” A hint of satisfaction slipped into my voice.
His gaze dipped to my lips. “Careful,” he warned, his tone dropping. “You keep talking like that, I might start thinking you planned this.”
I snorted. “Yeah, because I regularly lure guys into the woods just to throw them on their backs.”
“Wouldn’t blame you. It’s a good look on you.” He drew me forward an inch.
