Page 18 of Savage Temptation
“Don’t get upset. I’m not. I’m glad you gave me a reason to ditch that stuffy event.”
“Your project is important. It’s one of the most important—”
He shushes me with a finger over my lips. “You are important. If anything had happened to you, I honestly don’t know what I would have done.”
I know this doesn’t mean he’s actually interested in me romantically. He’s Lance’s best friend, and we’ve known each other for over a decade. He thinks of me as a little sister.
Then why did he kiss you?
The driver knocks on the window, and Atticus waves him inside.
Once settled, he cranes his neck to look at us. “Where to next, boss?”
“Take us back to the airstrip.”
“My stuff!”
“Has already been brought to my jet. I need to get you out of here.” His eyes light with fury anew.“Now.”
We ride in silence, Atticus’s hand clenching my thigh protectively. It’s hard to believe what just happened. That I’m actually lucky I was thrown in a foreign jail, because the alternative was being sex trafficked. And the fact that Atticus Savage dropped everything to come rescue me, skipping his mod party, makes me wonder exactly what it is he’s feeling.
Is this something he would do for anyone else he knows? I’m sure he would for Lance, but they’re best friends. They live and work together.
And what did that kiss mean?
I sneak glances at him, wishing I could caress his strong jaw and feel those plush lips against mine again. Damn him for being so desirable.
Sometimes I wish he wasn’t born into the legacy line that guaranteed him success and notoriety. It’s not that I’d ever want him to fail, but if he had grown up next to me with his own middle class family, then perhaps he’d see me differently, and he’d be more inclined toward relationships.
Because why would a man want to settle down with any one woman when they could have them all? And his looks, coupled with his bank account, give him just that.
We arrive at our destination and I follow him onto his private jet, wondering how far I should read into the matter, and what the hell that kiss meant.
And how I could perhaps bargain for more.
Yeah, I know, I’ve completely lost my sanity.
Atticus Savage can have any woman he wants, making monogamy a foreign concept to him. In his college years, pictures would pop up of him online with a woman on each arm, a third in tow.
So why did he kiss me? The only woman in existence that can come between him and his best friend—his employee. I’m a personal and professional risk, and yet he flew across the globe to rescue me, even when he believed I had tried to investigate his company.
Gosh, I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for him. He comes home drunk, bangs his best friend’s sister, only to have me flee, leaving him to believe I’d betrayed him.
At least now the truth is out.
“You’ll be able to fly home in comfort after your night in jail,” Atticus says. “Make yourself at home.”
Fortunately, his jet is equipped with a luxury bathroom, and I’m able to take a shower shortly after takeoff. Which I’m in desperate need of.
When I’m done, I grab a cup of coffee and settle into a seat beside Atticus, so we discuss the matters at hand.
As exhausted as I was, my adrenaline has me wide awake, eager to interact with my crush.
Yes, even after all this, the torch still burns brightly.
And I have one very important question on my mind.
“Why did you kiss me?”
