Page 20 of The Attraction

Decision made, I enter the kitchen and start opening the cupboards to find a glass and try to close them a little louder than is needed.

“Of course they are those damn soft-close doors. Shit.” Looking around, I need something I can accidentally drop on the floor or in the sink that will make a loud enough noise he will hear me but not break.

A chopping board, perfect.

I pick it up and hold it high above my head so when it falls, there is no way he won’t hear it.

“What the hell are you doing?” Forrest’s voice from behind startles me, and I scream in fright. I also drop the board, which lands on my toe.

“Agghhh, fuck, that hurt. What the hell. Are you a secret ninja or something? Creeping up on people and scaring them. What is wrong with you, you idiot?” I hop around on one foot in a pair of cream Jimmy Choos while I’m waving my injured foot in the air, which is screaming in pain at me.

“Asks the woman who is doing weightlifting in my kitchen with the chopping board. Who is the weirdo here, huh?” The smug smile on his face tells me he thinks this is funny, but it’s far from it.

“I should sue you for breaking my toe,” I snap, looking down at my foot. “And wrecking my favorite pair of shoes. Look at the mark on it. I’m going to have to throw them out now.” I point my shoe toward him, but he doesn’t even look and is moving toward me. Before I even have time to say a word, his hands are on my waist and hoisting me up onto the kitchen counter.

My mouth drops open.

His big hand wraps around my calf, and the other one already has the shoe off and it falls to the ground. The sheer stockings are not enough to stop the sensation of his skin touching mine.

“Wriggle your toes.” His deep voice has me doing as he asks, but not because he told me to. I want to see for myself that they are okay, even though they hurt like hell.

“Not broken. Like I thought, a drama queen.” His words piss me off, and even though my foot hurts, I use it to kick his thigh that he had it resting on while assessing my toes.

“Seriously,” he growls at me but doesn’t even flinch or move away; he just looks annoyed now.

“You know I don’t like to be touched.”

“Fine.” He releases my leg, and again, I know I’m being a bitch, but it just seems to happen around him.

I try to wriggle my butt off the counter, but every wriggle I try to maneuver just pulls my skirt that much farther up my thighs as the silk underskirt slides on my stockings. Forrest is getting to see a lot higher up my thighs than I want him to, and I know I can’t jump down, especially in one high heel and the other foot already in pain.

“Ughhh,” I grunt, looking back up at Forrest who is standing in front of me, leaning against the cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. His arms are crossed, and I didn’t even notice before that he has his sleeves of his blue shirt rolled up. My eyes gravitate to the veins running up his arms, and that just makes me squirm even more where I’m sitting.

“Need help?” he taunts me.

“No.” I lift my eyes up to look at him, and he just nods his head and stands there, not saying anything.

Silence and neither of us look away for what feels like forever, until I have to give in to him, which I hate.

“Fine!” I yell, throwing my hands in the air.

“Fine, what?” Not moving, he just keeps the blank expression.

“Get me down,” I blurt out.

“And?”

“Oh, this is not going to work. I’m leaving. Get me the fuck down, asshole.”

“Still waiting.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mumble under my breath. “Please.” The word burns on my tongue.

Without another word, he takes the couple of steps to me and lifts me off the counter, gently placing me on the ground, while I quickly pull my skirt down, and I push my foot back into the shoe he took off. It hurts, but I’m not showing any pain to him, just start to walk to where I set my bag on the dining table.

“So, I’m guessing I’ll pack your things up and leave them for you to pick up tonight then.” The calmness in his voice really bugs me.

“What do you mean?” I spin around and see he hasn’t moved from where he lifted me down.

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