Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,59

for one thing, it goes straight to your thighs." As those word echoed out between us, I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide – or worse, scamper up to my bedroom and pleasure myself to memories of that blissful night.

See, I told you he was making me crazy.

Under my breath, I murmured, "Well, it does."

His voice was quiet in the shadows. "Does it?"

At something in his tone, my gaze dipped, not to his pelvis, but to my own, because the truth was, he'd done amazing things between my thighs. And I'd loved every moment of it.

By the time I looked up again, I felt totally ridiculous.

It was time to switch gears, and fast. I sighed. "Look, you threatened my career. In what world is that okay?"

"None," he said. "But that's not what I did."

I made a sound of protest. "It was, too."

"No. What I said was you'd regret it."

"Yeah, because you'd make me regret it – you know, by making it impossible for me to find a new job."

"Yeah. For nine months. Not forever."

"So?" I said. "That's still terrible."

"No. It's being up-front."

"Fine, I said. "And believe it or not, I actually appreciate it."

He gave me a dubious look. "Do you?"

"Yes. Because an advance warning is always better than a nasty surprise."

"Except it shouldn't have been a surprise."

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You should've known there'd be trouble if you ditched Willow because you couldn’t handle yourself."

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "Me I can handle just fine. It's you I can't handle."

"Is that so?"

"Of course it is," I said. "I mean, come on. You hold all the cards here."

"Meaning?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I said. "You're the employer. I'm the employee. You're rich. I'm not. You practically threatened me. But did I threaten you? No. I didn't."

"You don't need to threaten me," he said. "You hold some nice cards of your own."

I crossed my arms. "Oh yeah? And what cards are those? Go ahead, name one."

"My sister." His voice softened as he said, "She loves you."

"Oh." Those three little words went straight to my heart, and my eyes grew misty as I considered how much I'd enjoyed getting to know her. Willow was a terrific kid. And we really did get along. With a fond smile, I replied, "And I love her, too."

"No. You like her. Big difference."

And just like that, I wasn't smiling anymore. "Hey, you're not allowed to tell me how I feel."

"Fair enough," he said. "But if you leave, you're not gonna be devastated. She will."

"Oh come on," I said. "That's not fair. This job, we never said it was a permanent thing."

"I know," he said. "Which is why the deal was for the remainder of your term, and not forever."

"So I'm supposed to be thankful?"

"No. You're supposed to stick to your word. And you're forgetting something."

My chin lifted. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I gave you mine, too. In the pantry. You remember, right?"

I remembered a lot of things from that night. Unfortunately, most of them were X-rated and pretty darn distracting.

With an effort, I tried to focus on the reason I'd come to live here in the first place. It was for Willow, and not for her distracting older brother, who yes, had given me his word that he wouldn't fire me if things got complicated.

But he was still missing the point. "Just hear me out," I said. "I'm not saying I want to quit. I'm just saying that I don't like feeling threatened, that's all."

"Yeah? Me neither."

"Oh, get real," I said. "I'm no threat to you."

"That's what you think," he scoffed. "But forget me."

As if I could.

Mason continued. "About Willow, do you know, aside from family, you're the first adult she's connected with in years?"

Hearing this, something squeezed at my heart. "I am?"

"You know it's true."

I hadn't known for sure, but I had suspected. I murmured, "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"And," he said, "if I wanted to be real prick, I'd ruin your job prospects for good."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "What, why?"

"So you'd stick around. And hey, I'd make it worth your while."

I was glaring now. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"No."

I bristled, "Hey, if you ever—"

"Don't worry, I won't. Like I said, I gave you my word."

"Oh, that's nice."

His gaze softened. "Cami, listen. We both know I'm not being nice. But I am being fair."

"Fair to who?" I scoffed.

"All of us." And then, in a gentler tone, he said, "Look, Willow knows you're leaving next year. And