Page 16 of Reluctantly Yours

That was a mistake.A big one.His eyebrows almost shot up off his head he lifted them so quickly.“Excuse me?Say that again,” he invited with a growl.

“No, I don’t think I will.”Still, he stared at me like I was some foreign species he had never seen, so I lifted my chin in spite of my icy, quaking insides.“All I’m saying is, at least be honest with yourself about why you’re doing this.There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the best.”

“Wait a second.”I wished he wouldn’t fold his arms.It only made his chest look better, not to mention making his biceps bulge.Any more of this, and I would end up running to my room and diving under a cold shower.“We don’t know each other nearly well enough for you to take what I told you in confidence and throw it in my face.I don’t let my friends get away with that, and we are not exactly friends.”

Right now, I could hardly understand why he had friends to begin with.“I know we aren’t friends.My friends don’t normally pay me to stay around.”

His eyes widened, and for a second, he looked impressed, like he was expecting me to bow and scrape and didn’t figure on me talking back.“Listen to you.How hard do you work to keep that smartass attitude in check?”

“At the moment,” I murmured with a sweet smile.“I’m working overtime.”

Come to think of it, maybe it was for the best that he folded his arms because it went well with the tone in his voice.They worked together to turn my horniness into something not as hormonal but just as dangerous.Think of Sofia.This was supposed to be about her, not about how much I wished I could climb him like a tree.“And it’s what would make her happy,” I concluded.“I was only asking if you would have the time.I didn’t want to make any promises for you that you couldn’t live up to.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for doing what any rational adult would do in a situation like this?”he countered, snickering.“Thank you so much for not making promises on my behalf.That grad degree is really coming in handy.”

Do not engage.Do not.He only wants to get a reaction out of you.I took a deep breath in through my nose, then blew it out through pursed lips.I was looking at a child wearing a man suit.Nothing more.“It is,” I told him with a sunny smile.“It’s coming in handy right now, in fact.”

“Oh, donot.” He held up a hand dangerously close to my face, close enough that I wanted to swat it away.“You are not starting with that again when you know I hate it.”

Standing straight and tall, I retorted, “I’m only doing whatever it takes to keep things from blowing up.For Sofia’s sake.”

“No, I think you’re a little bit of a bullshit artist.”

A tiny gasp stirred in my throat.“That’s very rude.”

“I very much don’t care.There’s nothing morally superior in knowing how to talk down to someone, Penny.”

“There’s nothing morally superior in bullying someone into silence,” I countered.“I’m sorry if you don’t like being reminded that your daughter needs you in her life more than someone who shows his face every once in a while.I think it bothers you most, as you know I’m right.”

“You’re taking this too far.”He stepped up to me again, and this time it didn’t occur to me to back away.My blood was racing, and I heard my heart pound in my ears.It was exhilarating, like riding the biggest, scariest roller coaster ever.

It was also all wrong.Compared to him, I was some dumb kid who didn’t know anything about the world.He was wealthy, connected.He had a private jet, for God’s sake.He didn’t even take me seriously as a human being.

And yet…

“I only care about Sofia,” I whispered.That much was true.“I see the way her eyes glow when she talks about you.You’re her hero.The greatest person in her world.And all she wants is for you to spend a little bit of time with her in a big city full of a million things to do.One day…” I added, since he hadn’t cut me off, “… you’re going to wish you had time with her, but by then, she might think she’s too cool to be with her dad.She would be so happy with only a few hours.”

“You have known her for six whole weeks,” he reminded me, grunting, his eyes searching my face.“I know what she needs.I am her father.And you’re only the…”

I never did find out what he wanted to call me, since instead of hurling an insult, he sank his hands into my hair and pulled me in close.There was a split second where I knew this was a before-and-after kind of situation.There was everything that happened prior to right now, this very moment, and everything to come after it.This would be the turning point.The place where everything changed.

I could stop it.I could.I needed to, especially when he looked at me the way he did, so intensely, almost like he hated me and wanted me all at once.My body was on fire.I could barely breathe.I wanted to run, but I wanted more to stay and see what happened next.I needed to.

It was amazing how much could go through a person’s head in a split second.All of that and so much more flashed across my awareness in the time it took him to lower his head and press the most searing, tantalizing kiss against my lips.It happened all at once, like an explosion, something with the power to blow my world apart.

The deep growl that stirred in his throat made my nerves dance, but it was a touch of his tongue against mine that made me arch my back instinctively, pressing myself against him.There was so much of him, and he was hardly wearing any clothes.I couldn’t help the way my hands slid up his back, testing his muscles and the warmth of his smooth skin as I clung to his shoulders or else risked dropping to the floor when my knees went weak.

One of his arms snaked around my waist and pulled me in close enough that I could feel the very big, very obvious hardness jutting from his shorts.When was the last time this happened?It had been way too long, which was probably why I was wet by the time his hand slid down to caress my ass.Was that me whimpering into his mouth as he stroked my tongue with his?Me sinking my nails into his shoulders before he pushed me against the door and held me in place with his brick wall of a chest?

“Fuck, Penny,” he growled out, going in for another kiss, another, kissing me until I was dizzy and giddy and ready to sacrifice just about everything I thought I knew about myself in favor of pure, hot desire.

He kissed a path of fire down my throat, whispering my name like the filthiest prayer.Touch me.Take me.I didn’t have the nerve to say it out loud, but that was what went through my mind repeatedly like a desperate plea.I’d spent the past six weeks living with this man, loving his daughter, and telling myself not to stare too long whenever we were in the same room.

And there was a reason for that.

So much for getting caught up in the moment.

“Wait.Wait… wait.”It was torture, prying his hand away from my boob, but I had to do it.For Sofia.“We shouldn’t do this.I should go.”

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