way to meeting her in the middle. His lips crashed down on hers as if he’d been waiting years to kiss her. He hadn’t. This was just a fluke of the moment, a crazy combination of timing and lust and frustration and all the other things building up since they’d met. It meant nothing. And he couldn’t stop.
Her hands were in his hair, cupping the back of his head and pulling him down even as she strained upward, and he deepened the kiss. Sweeping his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her, teasing a little moan from her, and she eliminated any remaining space between them. She let go of his hair and he went to take a step back, but instead of taking the space he offered, she went with him until he was standing with his back against the wall. The damp raincoats surrounded them as they kissed. Was that even the word for what this was? It was more of a breaking of the dam as they gave in to what had always been buzzing under the surface of their bickering and teasing.
She slid her hands underneath his hoodie, her fingertips cool against his abs. How was it possible to not believe something was happening and want more all at the same time? He had no fucking clue, but he was right there. He wanted—needed—all of her even though he shouldn’t. Words like “gold digger,” “brother’s so-called friend,” and “enemy” zipped around in his head, but they had all the impact of a buzzing gnat, easily waved aside for the pleasure that was kissing Hadley.
He didn’t mean to reach for her skirt, to pull it upward so he could slip his hand underneath, but there he was with his palm gliding up the outside of her smooth thigh and the round curve of her hip. Fuck, she felt good, better than he’d imagined too many times to count. He cupped her glorious ass, too much awesome to fit in his hands, and pulled her close so he could feel her heat against his hard cock straining against his jeans. Hadley let out a soft moan of encouragement, rubbing against him as she forced her hands between them and reached for the top button of his jeans.
A better man would remember why she was awful. Why she couldn’t be trusted. Why this was wrong. But he wasn’t a better man. Will was drowning in Hadley and he couldn’t think of a better way to go.
Then a bright light cut through the semidarkness of the coat closet—a reality spotlight landing right on them—followed by a knowing, cruel chuckle that he was all too familiar with. Obviously startled, Hadley jolted away from him, but it was too late.
“Having some fun with the help, Will?” said Mia, his ex, a cold, close approximation to a smile curling her lips. “You know that’s something I would have overlooked.” She paused for dramatic effect, looking them both over with clinical detachment. “I’ll leave you to get straightened up.”
The door swung shut behind her.
He shoved his hands through his hair. Fuck. What had just happened? What had he done? Mia wouldn’t keep her mouth shut. This would be the amusing anecdote of the fundraiser told and retold over cocktails and coffee. He had to protect Hadley somehow.
“Hadley,” he said.
It took a second, but she turned toward him—her eyes wide with a what-the-fuck surprise and her fingers pressed to her kiss-swollen lips—and said, “Web.”
A slap to the face would have been less of a blow than hearing her say his identical twin brother’s name at that moment. The worst part being that it was a self-inflicted wound. He knew better. Of course Web would be her first thought. After all, it would be damn hard to scam a guy into falling in love so she could walk away with half his billions if she banged his brother.
You’re an idiot, Holt.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice deadly flat even to his own ears. “Exactly.”
He swiped his raincoat off a hook and made it to the door in two strides, yanking it open and walking out, his steps measured, his breathing even, his heart going a million miles per hour. He never looked back.
Mia was already halfway to the bar when he spotted her, earning her keep as an impoverished (by Harbor City’s high-society standards anyway) woman from a storied family who kept things entertaining with the latest gossip. There was no point in pursuing her, though; it would