Page 35 of Her Every Fantasy

He speared a piece of broccoli. ‘Didn’t we agree that it would be simpler that way?’

‘No, we agreed on adifferentpath, not a simpler, sex-based one.’

‘And you agreed to my terms. Don’t change your mind now. And don’t act all hurt because I won’t let you change the rules.’

‘God, I really hate you sometimes, you know that?’

‘No, because you don’t. You want to pick yet another emotion to hide behind because you’re afraid of this one.’

‘Oh, fuck you, Bryce.’

He leaned forward into my space, his gorgeous lips curved in a sexy smile as his gaze raked my face. ‘Finally, something we both agree on. I hope tomorrow still works for you because I’ve cleared my whole day for you, rosebud.’

I surged to my feet, my emotions too wild to contain. Stalking to the window, I stared blindly at the view, my thoughts scattered to the wind.

Behind me, I heard him rise, heard the crinkle of containers as he gathered the leftovers. His footsteps receded for a minute before they returned.

I didn’t need to look to know he was directly behind me. Firm hands arrived on my waist, drawing me back into his body, and fool that I was, I went. ‘You can scream if you want to, get it all out of your system,’ he whispered in my ear.

I dropped my head and let out a long, frustrated growl. The movement of his chest told me he was laughing at me.

‘Guess I should count myself lucky that you still don’t believe in violence, huh?’ he mused.

‘Heads-up, I’ve been taking Krav Maga classes. Keep it up and I’ll kick your arse into tomorrow.’

Laughter ceased abruptly.

He propelled me around to face him, and I looked up into his fevered scrutiny. ‘Any particular reason why you needed self-defence classes?’ he asked tightly.

I shook my head before the volcano in his eyes could erupt. ‘It’s nothing like that. Dan didn’t...abuse me.’

The clench of his jaw said he begged to differ. And I couldn’t argue with that. The dirty laundry of my divorce had been publicised for the world to see. Bryce probably knew to the penny how much Dan had screwed me over for. How fraught and acrimonious the whole sorry saga had been, starting with his bid to become majority shareholder.

Terse silence stretched between us until he dropped his hand and stepped back. ‘Do you want to get the rest of this sorted?’ He waved a hand at the rest of the boxes.

A little relieved that we’d stepped back from the edge, I nodded.

For the next hour we worked in relative peace, a silent moratorium placed on volatile subjects.

When we were done, he went to dispose of the boxes, then sauntered over to where I stood, staring at the platform.

‘You good?’ he asked gently.

I nodded, a little apprehensive of what happened next now we had no inventory to distract us. I jumped a little when he reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His lingering touch sent a bolt of electricity through me. ‘Thanks for giving me a hand.’

‘My pleasure. Would you like a lift back to your place?’

I shook my head. ‘I brought my car.’

‘Okay, then I’m going to leave you alone now.’

Sharper disappointment lanced through me. The urge to tell him not to wait till tomorrow, that I’d happily see him when I was done with my dinner, rose to the tip of my tongue. He spoke before I could voice my desire.

‘But I want you to do something for me.’

‘Yes?’ God, could I sound needier?

He stepped closer and replaced his fingers with his mouth, caught my earlobe gently between his teeth. ‘I’m dying to see what you look like in these stunning pieces you’ve created. I want you to model them for me, privately. Starting tomorrow.’

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