Page 57 of The Front Runner
“Because I needed to have an impartial third party do the testing. You’re too connected to Patrick to stand up in court. No chance was I getting you embroiled in this.”
She rolls her eyes. “How honorable.”
I take a step closer to her, knowing we’re perfectly obscured at the very end of a dark hallway. “You know I’m right.”
Mira looks at me, her eyes clear, with something like wonder painted on her face. “I think I might have been wrong about you. I think everyone might be.”
Her head tilts back to keep eye contact as I take another step, leaving only a few inches between the tips of our toes.
“I think you’ve been wrong about me on a few counts, Dr. Thorne.” I place one hand against the wall on each side of her, effectively caging her in. “The only reason my lawyer has been around so much is because she helped me organize this whole show.”
“Oh.” She breathes out.
“Yes, oh.But I do rather enjoy your jealous side. Do you think I’ve been asking you to let me take you on a date for the past several months just so I could pursue another woman after finally tasting your lips? Did you think I’d give up that easily?”
“No, I thought you were teasing me. I thought it was all a big joke. A game.”
I lean down to whisper in her ear. “Absolutely nothing about the way I feel for you is a joke. And I’ll keep telling you that until you believe me.”
Her breathing quickens, and the silk covering her voluptuous breasts heaves beneath the weight of her gasp.
I lift my index finger and trace the spaghetti strap where it caresses her collar bone. “I’m just very, very patient. I know what I want, and I’m willing to wait for it. I don’t mind biding my time until you catch up.” My finger slides over the crest of her shoulder, and I feel her warm breath against my jaw as she tips her chin to follow. She’s watching my every move, her eyes locked onto my finger. “It’s a shame I’m not allowed to kiss you anymore. Because you look positively edible right now, Mira.”
With one quick grab, her fingers twist into my dress shirt, and she yanks me toward her. Free hand wrapped around the back of my neck, she pulls my face to hers and kisses me with so much longing that my stomach drops.
The kiss isn’t frantic. It’s hard, and her mouth clamps onto mine like she’s trying to steal my soul. It almost feels like an apology.
Apology accepted.
I use my tongue to trace the seam of her lips, and she moans. Her mouth falls open and our tongues meet instantly. She jerks me closer still, and I revel in it. The event hums at the opposite end of the dim hallway, but here in the shadows, I feel like we’re in our own little world.
Just the two of us.
Her soft breasts press against my chest, and I imagine sliding my dick between them one day, watching her round eyes go wide while her tits glisten. I let my hands trail down over them, feather light. A tease. Her nipples harden through the thin silk while her soft lips move against mine.
Nothing about this feels fake. Our bodies. Our minds. Our hearts. Absolutely everything about being with Mira feels like one of the most real things I’ve ever had in my life. And I won’t let her slip between my fingers now.
I’m going to make her come on them instead.
I pull away to nip at the lobe of her ear, and she whimpers in protest. “Do you remember what I said I was going to do to you if I had you up against a wall, Dr. Thorne?”
“What?” Her voice is pure lust, almost slurred.
“I told you that you’d be the meal.”
19
Mira
All the airempties from my lungs. The sound of my ragged exhale rushes through my ears, blocking out the sound of polite conversation and classical music playing in the ballroom. Stefan is smirking at me, like he knows something I don’t.
And for the first time in my life, I think that might be true.
I wrack my brain, trying to think of the first time he asked me on a date. It’s been so long that I can’t even remember. It’s become an ongoing part of our relationship, comic relief for the awkward tension that comes with doing work for my best friend’s enemy.
Unprofessional? Maybe. Necessary ice breaker? Definitely.
I don’t know why it never occurred to me that it might have been real. The way he looks at me. The way he touches me. The way he defends me. And now every interaction between us is hitting me upside the head like an awkward teenager with a dodge ball she never saw coming.
