like it’s moving in slow motion, I swear. My car is parked a couple of blocks away. I need to get there so I can go home and shower and put Keenan Silverman out of my mind.
Rose’s advice was solid. I don’t regret a single second of that experience. But it would take a lot more than being taken on a desk to fuck that man out of my system. And it would be enough to suck me in and make him truly dangerous. Getting used to him—to that kind of life and what it can mean…
It’s terrifying. I don’t want to lose the sense of who I am, and I feel like Keenan is the kind of man that has the potential to make me forget absolutely everything. Everything.
What they don’t tell you about really great dick, is that it’s addictive. You always want more until you want nothing else. And that’s the beginning of the end.
The sun is still shining hot and bright, and the humidity instantly makes me sweat. And that only helps me remember more, smell him more. What the fuck am I doing?
I look to my right as I step onto the street, and suddenly there’s blaring horns and a rush of air and I’m falling on top of someone’s body. The wind is entirely knocked out of me, and my vision blackens with dizziness for a moment before it clears and I’m looking up at the sky.
Running through the images in my head, I realize how close I’d just come to that bumper, and the rush of wind was the car that nearly killed me.
A face blocks out the sun. “Justine.” It’s Keenan. “Are you all right? Did you hit anything?”
I try to focus on his voice. “I landed on you.”
“Good. Let me call an ambulance so we can get you checked out.”
“No,” I say quickly and shove myself to a sitting position. “No, I’m okay.” Moving too quickly makes me dizzy again, but just a head rush. I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head, and I might have a couple bruises, but I was lucky.
Lucky because Keenan pulled me out of the way. “What are you doing here?”
“Me?” The look on his face is a mixture of terror and fury. “What are you doing walking out into traffic? You could have been killed?”
His arms are around me in a second, and everything about him from his stance to his voice speaks of protection. Fingers dig into my spine, and when I look up at him to meet his gaze, I see that same passion, and now possession. I feel it too, greedy for his touch.
I’m shaking, and for just a moment, I let myself lean into him. Keenan gather’s me close, and that scent that seemed suffocating just a couple of minutes ago now seems comforting. I rest my forehead on his chest, and slowly his hand glides up my back to cradle my neck.
My heart is pounding and yet I feel exhausted, the adrenaline draining out of my system with the realization of safety. Keenan came after me. “You came after me,” I say, voice muffled in his shirt.
“I couldn’t let you walk away,” he says softly. “And I’m glad I didn’t. A few second later and…I don’t want to think about that.”
He doesn’t have to fill in the blanks. My mind is already doing it for me more than adequately. “Thank you.”
“And I might add,” he says, with a smile I can hear, “we’re in public. Broad daylight. Touching. And the world didn’t come crashing down.”
I pull away slowly. I don’t want to, and running away from it clearly isn’t working. Anxiety bubbles in my gut. I know that I’m playing with fire, but I also know that if I don’t do something, this will turn into a regret.
Part of me wants to make it easy. Drag him back inside to that fancy office of his and let him fuck me ten ways till Sunday. Or I can be brave and hope that I know what the fuck I’m doing.
I clear my throat and straighten out my clothes as I look at him. “I’ll agree to dinner,” I say, holding out a hand to stop him from interrupting. I can already see that he was going to. “But I have conditions.”
The smile on Keenan’s face is blinding. “Go ahead.”
“No wearing a suit. Casual clothes only,” I tell him.
He chuckles. “Okay.”
“I pick the restaurant.”
“Again, fine,” he says.
Pulling my shoulders back, I meet