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‘I think we both know why.’
Why the hell was this friction turning me on? This wasn’t the type of interaction that got me off.
‘Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot—’
‘No. I think we got off on the exact right foot. I remind you of the baggage you’re attempting to shed by running off and hiding in the icy wilderness next to the Arctic Circle, and you don’t like it.’
Anger fired up inside me, even while I was thrown by her near-accuracy. ‘I’m not running
anywhere,’ I bit out.
‘Aren’t you? Sorry, my bad.’
I snapped the tarp over the equipment with more force than necessary. ‘You don’t sound sorry at
all.’
She shrugged. ‘I’ll work on my sincerity while we head for wherever you’re taking me next. Shall
we?’
We stared each other down, with the friction and tension increasing with every moment that ticked
by.
I’d had enough of that with Stephanie, each moment with her spent on the uncertain edge of judging
a mood that could veer from icy indifference to volcanic.
Walk away.
The faster I completed this assignment, the quicker I could be rid of Graciela and the unsettling
emotions she evoked.
Slowly, as if she’d read my intentions, her expression changed to one of steady assessment tinged
with boredom.
Absurdly, that only riled me further, the need to ruffle feathers she’d effectively smoothed with a dismissive thought firing through me.
‘You get a kick out of being contrary?’
She shrugged. ‘Maybe. Or perhaps you simply don’t like the truth pointed out to you. Either way,
we can still talk while we...sled. Is that what you call it?’ She gestured at the animals.
‘You know exactly what it’s called,’ I replied, noting absently that my heart was beating faster, my senses more fired up than they had been in weeks. ‘Pretending you’re less intelligent than you actually are may be a turn-on for other men. Not me.’
‘And you think that’s what I’m trying to achieve here? To turn you on?’
God, the way she said that, with the exact cadence engineered to stroke my cock. Did she practise
it to get that perfect degree of hotness and craving?
I had a feeling she knew the exact effect she and her voice were having on me.
‘I don’t think you utter a single word or make a move without calculating the exact effect you wish to achieve.’