Chapter 25

Defensive and closed. Those were the best words to describe Deke. Oh, the offense came through, but that was his defense. He wasn’t just morning crabby; she knew him well enough to know that he liked mornings. He hadn’t been troubled by anything last night. He hadn’t been troubled until he’d gotten a firsthand taste of how feminine she wasn’t.

His instinct had been to refuse her request. Now he was probably kicking himself for letting her and Luc manipulate him into this arrangement. He was probably thinking it was going to be the longest two weeks of his life. Her brothers often congratulated her on being one of the few females they knew who could contain their emotions, but the unruly things snapped up and bit her now. And she felt wretched. Hurt. She hated it.

“Fine. I’ve got nothing to say, either. Be an asshole. As long as you’re a good tutor, I don’t care.”

Kimber stood and waltzed past Deke, toward the exit.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down damn near in