of your system, mon chérie.”
I stand up straighter. Did he just call me his dear? He has a lot of freaking nerve. Damn if I don’t want to slap that cocky smirk off his ruggedly handsome face. To feel that scruff between my thi… No. No, Whitney. Stop this shit right now. “I don’t want to talk about it; and just to be clear, I’m not your anything.”
“I think we need to”—he brushes a lock of hair off my shoulder, his gentle fingers trailing along the nape of my neck—“clear the air.”
A shiver reverberates through me, and I fight the urge to purr. I’m a mess…a wanton hussy.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Whitney.” His tongue darts out to wet his lips, and I find myself mimicking the act. “I won’t lie and say I’m not crazy attracted to you, but I’m a professional. I’m here to do a job.”
“As am I.”
He nods, brushing a thumb over his lower lip. Is every move this guy makes just naturally arousing, or is he screwing with me? “No need to be ashamed of the chemistry lingering between us. We fucked.” He shrugs. “It happens.”
Definitely screwing with me.
He moves closer, but I’m too shocked to back away. “We were two consenting adults. It’s not like I plan to maul you against a casket.”
Is that a shudder? A break in his confident demeanor? I shake out of my stupor enough to regain some of my wits. If he’s going to play, then so can I.
“No?” I ask, running a hand over his chest. “Suddenly you have standards?”
He shrugs, playing it off, but I know what I saw just now. A crack in his armor. I latch onto that weakness like my dignity depends on it. “I have respect for the dead.”
“Just not for me?” I whisper, keeping my voice low and purposefully wobbly. Way to be strong!
He hangs his head. “Look, we were both drunk and horny, and while the location may not have been ideal—”
“It was a dumpster.”
“You will never convince me you weren’t thoroughly satisfied.”
He’s right. And that’s a huge part of the problem. I’m ashamed of myself. Ashamed that I wasn’t responsible enough to have learned from my past mistakes. That at the age of twenty I was still as reckless as the sixteen-year-old who let her hormones lead and wound up with a baby before finishing high school. Not anymore. I’ve grown a lot over the past two years. I will not be brought down so easily. “I just… I don’t do things like that.” Anymore. “I have a reputation…” I’m still trying to restore.
“And I’m not here to ruin it.” He grips my chin in his thumb and forefinger, and I melt at his touch. I’m stunned by his audacity to—after so much time has passed—take such liberties with me. “What’d’ya say we start over? Pretend it never happened?”
“You can forget we slept together?” I shriek. “Just like that?” I snap my fingers.
What the hell is wrong with me? Now I’m appalled at the notion of being forgotten… I don’t even recognize myself right now.
“Well, no… I’m just trying to help you get past this.”
I snort. How very ladylike of me. I clap a hand over my mouth before hearing a distinctive grunt behind me.
No. No, no, no, no, no…
“Dad,” I say brightly, as I turn around, pulling out the remains of my acting skills. Watching the color draining from Wyatt’s face is almost worth the sheer mortification I’m suffering at his mere presence. “What can I do for you?”
“I was coming by to tell you the Andersons are here to meet with you.” His eyes bounce between the two of us. “In the main parlor.”
“Well,” I say, dipping from between the wall and the man my father’s attention is now laser focused on. “I won’t keep them waiting.”
Never have I ever wanted to disappear the way I want to right fucking now.
“Did I hear what I think I just heard?” The intimidating boar of a man rests his broad shoulder against the wall beneath the banister. Gone is the jovial guy I just spent over an hour chatting construction with—along with every ounce of oxygen from this room.
“Sir?” I ask, not wanting to volunteer any more than absolutely necessary. I have no clue how much he heard, and right now, I’m having a hard time even remembering exactly what was said.
Did someone turn the thermostat up?
“Don’t play dumb with me, son. You just said you had relations with my daughter.”
I