Page 12 of Possessed By Knox
“What do you want if you win?”
“You,” he says, eyes dropping briefly to my lips and tracking them hotly before moving back to my eyes.“If I win the bet, you’ll spend the night with me.”
“A whole night?”
“We won’t do anything you don’t want to do,” he’s quick to assure me. Then he smirks. “But I imagine there’s a lot of things you’ll want to do with me if I get a whole night to woo you. So do we have a deal?”[KB16][KB17]
“Knox—”
“You don’t have to take the deal if you’re scared that I’ll win,” he teases. He flicks his thumb over my bottom lip and my mouth parts for him, my heart racing as he leans forward, so close until I’m sure he’s going to kiss me. Christ, we’re in the open and this is so wrong…but why does it feel so right? “Ruth?”
“I won’t fall for this city,” I breathe, biting down the need to push up and kiss him. “And I definitely won’t fall for you.”
“Then prove it. Take the bet.”
“Fine,” I say, eyes locking on his. “Be ready to ride around town in a clown costume.”
He smirks, pushing back with a look that makes me think he’s assured of his victory, but that won’t happen. I have a life in another city, a life that I love.
And hell would freeze over before I fall in love with a criminal.
Chapter Four
Knox
I was five when I got my first lesson on what it means to be poor. My mother had finally agreed to take me to the park after I’d begged her for days. Perhaps it was the drugs she’d shot up that morning that made her so agreeable that particular Saturday afternoon, but she agreed to go, dragging me to a crowded park filled with the loud noise of screaming children. She even let me play with the other kids without much of a fuss, then tossed me a dollar and shooed me away before dropping onto a bench and falling asleep.
The memory is still fresh—clutching that dollar close to my chest, grinning ear to ear as I walked toward the ice cream truck. But the large, bearded man wouldn’t sell me a cone because I was seventy-six cents short. I was devastated. It should have been enough. I started to turn away when a man and his son approached the truck, and he offered to pay for both our ice creams. Saint’s father told us we could even get more if we wanted. More? That idea was new to me.
And that fateful day, I realized that I wanted more. [KB18]
But I wanted it here. In the same place where I’d grown up having nothing. It was a thing of beauty to move from one neighborhood to the next, better each year. To experienceall angles of Chicago, from the gutter to the high-rise and everything in between. I went from having nothing to having more than enough to take me anywhere I want to go in the world, but I still choose to stay here.
Perhaps that’s why I don’t understand why my flighty little bird doesn’t love the city as much as I do.
“You’re early,” she says when she opens the door, her bleary eyes blinking up at me. Christ, how can someone look so fucking sexy in the morning? Her dark hair, still tousled from sleep, frames her face with a few strands sticking up at odd angles. I don’t care for the way my heart skips a beat when my eyes lock on hers, or the way my cock stiffens the longer I meet her gaze. “I thought you were kidding when you said you’d pick me up at six.”
“Well, good morning to you too,” I say, smiling at the cranky woman standing in front of me, wrapped in a robe and looking like she wants nothing more than to jump back under the covers. “Am I to assume you’re not a morning person?”
“If this is the way you intend to try and make me fall in love with you and this goddamn city, then you are doomed to fail.”
I smirk at that. “I brought breakfast,” I say, lifting the bag in my hands, and I watch with amazement as her eyes light up. “I got some bagels, cream cheese, and a fruit salad for everyone. And for you, my little bird…” I reach into the bag and grab the coffee she mentioned yesterday. “Caramel macchiato with oat milk and extra caramel drizzle…did I get it right?”
“You did,” she whispers, her voice soft and mellow as she reaches out to grab the coffee. I watch her take a sip, and her eyes light up with delight at the taste. She moans as she goes in for another.
“So, how am I doing?”
“I could kiss you right now,” she says, before her eyes widen, surprised by her own words, And judging by the twinblush on her cheeks, a bit embarrassed by them too. “I meant, I…shit, just come in. Ransom and Abby are still asleep.”
“Has she changed her mind yet?” I ask, following her into the apartment.
“Not yet.” She sighs. “I know she will, it’s only a matter of time.”
Even I can hear the uncertainty in her voice, and I don’t have to wonder why. I’ve been around those two from the start. Even before they started dating, it was uncomfortable being in the same room as them. The stares they exchanged were so heated that they could power up a small town. I doubt Ruth will successfully convince her sister to leave with her, but then again, that means I get more time with her.
There’s this thing between us, this weird intensity that goes beyond physical attraction, and I need Ruth to stay here until we figure out what it is. And how to move on from it.
The truth is, I want her.
