Conflict of Interest - By Allyson Lindt Page 0,51
ear. “And then you throw a fit when I finally act the way you tell me to.”
The cold in his voice was a shocking contrast to his warm touch. She desperately wanted to sink into the gesture, but forced herself to stay upright. Air rushed in around her when his hand dropped away. She could tell he had stepped back, but didn’t know how far and wasn’t going to cave and look.
“So we need some ground rules.” His voice was low, seductive. “I can have you when you’re in the mood? You can tease me as long as I don’t take it too seriously? If I let anyone get to know the real me, my entire livelihood is destroyed?”
Every word bit deeper, but she didn’t know what else to do. It was also all true, at least as long as they were working together. She was on her feet in an instant, spinning to face him. Her breath caught when she realized how close he was standing. Her heels kept her at eye level with him, and his gaze threatened to capture her.
She pushed it all aside. “This isn’t easy for me either. I want you desperately.” The confession slipped out before she could stop it. Screw it, no one was looking, she could be honest. “Walking that fine line between how attracted I am to you and how damaging indulging would be to my career is devastating.” She hesitated and then brushed her lips over his.
Her pulse screamed in anticipation when he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back. His lips brushed her throat, and she gasped in response.
“So I can have you right now?” His hungry growl rolled through the room. “While no one is watching?”
She wanted to be bold, aggressive, in control. But she wanted him more. “Yes.”
He let go and stepped away until the door stopped him. He clasped his hands behind his back, gaze never leaving her. “So you can keep your job and still get what you want? So you don’t have to tell anyone the scruffy-looking nerfherder with the massive ego made you scream in pleasure just by talking to you?”
His eyes never left hers, and she realized it was hurt staring back at her, not the barely controlled fury she expected. His voice was quiet, but firm. “I’m not here to sate whatever repressed bad-girl desires you’ve built up. I’m not the guy you call because you want to get off, and no one else is naughty enough. Fuck, if that’s what you’re looking for, I am so very tame. Or maybe you’re not ready for more than that yet. As long as I don’t get any kinkier, you can still claim you’re a good girl?”
It ripped through her to hear her own motivations thrown back in her face. Tore at her to hear it laid out so coldly and to realize how much it was hurting him.
He looked away finally. “Fuck it. I’m tired of trying to guess what’s going on in your head. You want me, you don’t want to be around me, I irritate you, I excite you, and God forbid anyone knows how desperately I want to fuck you. Or even worse, that it might run deeper than that.”
She closed the distance between them, staring him down and hating herself for what she had to say. “I don’t know what you want from me. This was never meant to be serious. It was a kiss in a parking lot between strangers. A flirt in a dressing room to take off the edge. A couple of naughty words in the heat of the moment. It’s become counterproductive.”
His smile was cold. “You’re really fond of that phrase, aren’t you Miss Carter? Contrary to what you think, I’m not incompetent. I’m not an idiot. I’ve survived the last decade without your help, and you don’t want to be here, so tell me, why are you? What keeps you coming back?”
She couldn’t answer that question. She’d asked herself the same thing a million times, and her gut always clenched when she got close to an answer. Screw this. “That’s it, we’re done,” she snarled. “Move.”
“Answer my question.”
She glared at him, forcing the lie out and hating the way it burned past her lips and left a gaping void inside. “Nothing. There is nothing to keep me coming back.”
His mask slipped, hurt and disbelief rushing in to replace it, and he stepped aside, opening the door as he moved.