Page 37 of The Front Runner
I straight up cackle. That is exactly what he looks like. “He looks happy,” I reply.
Stefan nods. “He does.”
“You’ve done a great job with him, Stefan.” I want him to understand what a huge difference he’s made for this small horse. That even if everyone sees him one way, I see that they’re all wrong. It feels like something he should know. This man is still clearly so broken up about his mother and trying so hard for the only family he has left.
His eyes flit to the side. “This is all you. I probably just made your job harder.”
“Oh, you mean by using me as a pawn in your pointless war with my friends?” I joke.
Now his head turns to me. Slowly, but sharply. Like a predator that’s heard his prey fumbling through the forest. “Pawn?”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t play stupid, Stefan. It’s not cute. Making them keep Loki here rather than at Gold Rush Ranch. The three dates. I’m sure you’re just desperately hoping Billie finds out about those so you can sow discord between us. I know it’s all part of your plot to cut them down at the knees.”
He unfolds his fingers slowly as he regards me. Turning his body to face me. And mine follows like the opposite end of a magnet, matching his movement so we stand facing each other under the golden glow of the evening sky. “You think that you’re the pawn in my game?”
I scoff and roll my eyes in response.How dumb does he think I am?
He moves swiftly now, surely. One hand shoots out and slides between my coat and thin shirt. He palms my ribs there as he presses me back against the fence. We’re supposed to be watching the horses. But suddenly, all we’re watching is each other. My hands come up to push him away, but as soon as I feel the hard lines of his pecs beneath his shirt, my resolve withers.
“I’m going to tell you something, Mira.” I can feel the rumble of his voice through my palms. I can’t take my eyes off the sight of my hands on his chest. I’m not supposed to be touching Stefan Dalca, but my body must have missed the memo. Because my nipples rasp against my bra, and with each breath I draw, an ache coils just behind my hip bones.
“And I want you to listen very carefully.” With his free hand, Stefan reaches up and drags the pad of his pointer finger over my collar bone.
My breath turns to stone in my lungs. I’m too shocked to move. And too far gone to stop him. He’s standing so close I can smell his laundry detergent and the hint of pine that must be in his cologne.
“Because you are very confused.”
He starts at the center of my chest, his eyes following his finger, watching goosebumps fan out across my skin in his wake. When his finger gets close to my shoulder and the neckline of my shirt, he slips it just inside. Just under the strap of my bra. And with one flick, that strap is pushed right off my shoulder. His grip pulses on my ribs and he steps even closer, forcing me to look up and hold his gaze.
A quiet gasp escapes me when I catch sight of the expression on his face. What I see there is primal. He’s not just looking at me appreciatively… he’s looking at me like he wants to devour me.
I’m positive no man has ever looked at me like this before.
A sinful smile touches his mouth as he leans in close. His free hand cups the back of my skull so his thumb can brush across the sensitive part of my neck, almost at my throat.
His whisper is warm and silky. “Do I have your attention now?”
I swallow and nod, feeling chills break out over my skin. There is not a single part of my mind or body that is not entirely focused on the man who has pushed me up against the fence.
“Good. Because I want to make myself abundantly clear.” We’re so close. I can feel the entire length of his body covering mine. He teases me with the lightest brush of his lips against my ear as he drops his voice and holds me captive. “You are not the pawn, Mira. You are the prize.”
I reel, and I feel the burn of his lips against my skin as he presses a featherlight kiss to the spot his thumb had been rubbing. My pulse hammers, and I swear all I can hear is my blood rushing through my veins. The air crackles between us. No man has ever spoken to me like this.
I should put a stop to our interaction. And yet, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. My body comes to life for him in a way it shouldn’t.
He steps away, and I feel alarmingly bereft, like I want to yank him back toward me. Like I wantmore.I’m the biggest traitor I know because I want him to continue. I want him to whisper more forbidden secrets against my body.
His tongue darts out over his bottom lip, followed by his teeth, in a very intentional way as his eyes peruse my body. His gaze lands on the hand I now have slung over my chest in an attempt to slow my racing heart. The other one grips the fence post behind me, possibly the only thing that’s keeping me upright at this moment.
“And I love to win,” he finishes with a stupidly sexy smirk, then turns around and walks away.
Leaving me with the perfect view of his firm ass and a jumbled mess of confused feelings.
13
Stefan
The bell rings,the gate flies open, and I watch the new gray filly fly out with ears pricked forward. She has a sweet face, but the little demon canrun.
