apartment and hailed a cab. There was no way in hell I would be walking anywhere tonight in the heels I was wearing.
The cabby pulled up to Four-19 and looked back at me expectantly. I began to pay the fare, but before I did my door swung open and a huge paw reached in handing the cabby enough money to chauffeur me to and from work for a week straight.
“Oh. Thank you,” I said, looking up at Graham.
“You’re welcome.” Without preamble, he pulled me from the cab and swept me against him.
I hesitated for a moment, feeling taken aback by his directness, then the feel of him, the scent of him, worked like a hypnotic and I relaxed against him.
“I’m sorry but that’s all I’ve been thinking about today.”
Fuck you, standards!
I wrapped my arms around him, pulled him lower to me and reveled in the feel of his solid body against mine. “Me too,” I admitted, deliberately brushing my lips against the rim of his ear.
He shivered just enough for me to notice, and I made sure to make a mental note that he liked what I’d done.
Without a word, he released me and snagged my hand. He marched us through his club and right to the elevator we had taken up to the roof the night before.
The doors slid closed and now that I was alone with him, my courage felt a tad less robust. He stared down at the control panel and jabbed the buttons almost violently.
He stood there for what felt like a long time, his palms resting against the brushed metal panels of the interior of the elevator. His head was hanging down. It struck me then how much he looked like a statue, the picture of male perfection. The elevator wasn’t moving. We weren’t ascending to the rooftop. Worry bubbled up in my throat. Why was he acting like this?
He stayed where he was, his arms bracing his body against the elevator’s wall. Without moving, he turned his head to look at me. His dark eyes looked pained, the muscle in his jaw twitched in sync with my pounding heart. I must have been the image of the proverbial deer in the headlights.
“I shouldn’t get involved with you,” he whispered almost ominously. I wanted to ask why, but my mind was reeling and words wouldn’t surface from the murky shallows of my brain.
I didn’t expect him to switch gears so quickly. His moods seemed elastic and I could relate. I knew why I was sometimes swinging from one emotion to the next. I wondered why he was. One minute he was smiling at me on the sidewalk, the next he looked as though he could barely stand to look at me.
“I don’t want to lie to you. I want you so bad it hurts. But you—you’re dangerous for me. I’ve never… You make me want to forget everything I know. You make me feel out of control, and that’s a very bad thing for a person like me. You should know—”
“So stay in control.” The words had spilled from my lips of their own volition. Inwardly, I gaped at my own tenacity.
What the fuck, Flor?
“You make it sound so simple,” he said, allowing his head to drop again. My brows furrowed as I wondered what on earth his issue was.
“It is that simple,” I said, stepping toward him. I lifted my hand and rested it lightly on his arm, noting how tense he was. His obsidian locks had somewhat fallen across his brow with his head stooped. His eyes reflected nothing specific, only some sort of conflict that I wasn’t yet privy to.
“Hey. You’re attracted to me. I’m attracted to you. You’ve been wonderful so far and I hope I’ve been the same for you. There’s no reason why we can’t at least be friends, right?”
“Oh, Flor.” A wicked smile tilted his beautiful mouth into a lopsided smile that made him look like the poster boy for mischief. “Baby, I have absolutely zero interest in being your friend.” With that, his dark eyes rose and his arms fell from their perch on the wall. He righted his big frame and prowled forward, and it was clear that whatever demon had haunted him only a moment ago, monopolizing his
The cabby pulled up to Four-19 and looked back at me expectantly. I began to pay the fare, but before I did my door swung open and a huge paw reached in handing the cabby enough money to chauffeur me to and from work for a week straight.
“Oh. Thank you,” I said, looking up at Graham.
“You’re welcome.” Without preamble, he pulled me from the cab and swept me against him.
I hesitated for a moment, feeling taken aback by his directness, then the feel of him, the scent of him, worked like a hypnotic and I relaxed against him.
“I’m sorry but that’s all I’ve been thinking about today.”
Fuck you, standards!
I wrapped my arms around him, pulled him lower to me and reveled in the feel of his solid body against mine. “Me too,” I admitted, deliberately brushing my lips against the rim of his ear.
He shivered just enough for me to notice, and I made sure to make a mental note that he liked what I’d done.
Without a word, he released me and snagged my hand. He marched us through his club and right to the elevator we had taken up to the roof the night before.
The doors slid closed and now that I was alone with him, my courage felt a tad less robust. He stared down at the control panel and jabbed the buttons almost violently.
He stood there for what felt like a long time, his palms resting against the brushed metal panels of the interior of the elevator. His head was hanging down. It struck me then how much he looked like a statue, the picture of male perfection. The elevator wasn’t moving. We weren’t ascending to the rooftop. Worry bubbled up in my throat. Why was he acting like this?
He stayed where he was, his arms bracing his body against the elevator’s wall. Without moving, he turned his head to look at me. His dark eyes looked pained, the muscle in his jaw twitched in sync with my pounding heart. I must have been the image of the proverbial deer in the headlights.
“I shouldn’t get involved with you,” he whispered almost ominously. I wanted to ask why, but my mind was reeling and words wouldn’t surface from the murky shallows of my brain.
I didn’t expect him to switch gears so quickly. His moods seemed elastic and I could relate. I knew why I was sometimes swinging from one emotion to the next. I wondered why he was. One minute he was smiling at me on the sidewalk, the next he looked as though he could barely stand to look at me.
“I don’t want to lie to you. I want you so bad it hurts. But you—you’re dangerous for me. I’ve never… You make me want to forget everything I know. You make me feel out of control, and that’s a very bad thing for a person like me. You should know—”
“So stay in control.” The words had spilled from my lips of their own volition. Inwardly, I gaped at my own tenacity.
What the fuck, Flor?
“You make it sound so simple,” he said, allowing his head to drop again. My brows furrowed as I wondered what on earth his issue was.
“It is that simple,” I said, stepping toward him. I lifted my hand and rested it lightly on his arm, noting how tense he was. His obsidian locks had somewhat fallen across his brow with his head stooped. His eyes reflected nothing specific, only some sort of conflict that I wasn’t yet privy to.
“Hey. You’re attracted to me. I’m attracted to you. You’ve been wonderful so far and I hope I’ve been the same for you. There’s no reason why we can’t at least be friends, right?”
“Oh, Flor.” A wicked smile tilted his beautiful mouth into a lopsided smile that made him look like the poster boy for mischief. “Baby, I have absolutely zero interest in being your friend.” With that, his dark eyes rose and his arms fell from their perch on the wall. He righted his big frame and prowled forward, and it was clear that whatever demon had haunted him only a moment ago, monopolizing his
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