Page 73 of Taming Tesla

She widens her eyes at me and nods, cocking her head slightly. “Little bit.”

It makes this easier somehow, knowing her judgment is impaired. Makes it easier for me to shut down the part of me that wants to bend her over the counter. I sigh, swiping a shaky hand over my face. “What did you want to talk about?”

She takes a drink of her wine like she’s stalling. Gaze working its way around the room before she finally looks at me. Mouth slightly parted, she runs her tongue along her lower lip before catching it between her teeth. It makes me think about what it felt like to fuck her mouth. To have her lips wrapped around my cock. Her tongue—

“Patrick?”

Shit. “What?” I look up from her mouth to find her staring at me like she’s waiting for an answer.

“I said, why won’t you kiss me?” She says it like she’s repeating herself, taking a deep, irritated breath that gives me a clear view of the outline of her nipples again.

I close my eyes and stifle a groan.

“Patrick?” Now she sounds irritated.

“I heard you,” I tell her, holding up a hand to stop her from talking. “I’m trying to formulate a response—” I drop my hand and sigh. “Just give me a second.”

She nods. Doesn’t wait more than three before she talks again. “Is it because you don’t want to be with me anymore?”

“What?” I look at her like she’s crazy because she must be if she thinks that’s what this is about.

“Why do you keep saying what?” She sets her wine down and drops her hands to her hips, cheeks, and chest flushed with color. She has no idea how insanely hot she is when she’s angry.

“Because I don’t know how to answer your question,” I tell her, being as honest as I can without running the risk of making a complete ass of myself.

She lets out a long breath. “It’s okay,” she says, bobbing her head. “I understand.”

“You understand?” Something about her tone snags my attention. Tightens my jaw. “That’s fantastic—maybe you can explain it to me then.”

“It’s just—I get it. It’s been almost a year.” She shrugs, taking another drink like she needs the wine to fortify her reasoning. “What happened between us was crazy—we were crazy. I just want you to know that I understand. There’s bound to be residual feelings—”

“Residual—” I can feel my jaw go slack around the word. “are you for—”

“Stop interrupting me,” she says, suddenly as irritated as I am. And hurt. She sounds hurt. “I’m just trying to say that I get it. What happened between us was pretty intense. It’s understandable that now that you’ve had some time and space to consider—”

Fuck this.

I reach out and close my hands around her waist. Lifting her, I watch her eyes widen when I set her ass on the counter. “Trust me, Cari,” I say to her in a low tone, letting my hands slide from her hips to her thighs, using my grip to open her legs. Stepping into the space between them, I drag her ass to the edge of the counter. I pull her as close as I can get her, letting her feel the raging hard-on currently trying to fight its way out of my pants. “You don’t understand anything.”

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