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Dead. I was dead. Six feet under and seeing nothing but stars. Somehow, despite all of that, I managed to shake my head. The intensity in his eyes had my belly doing flips, every inch of my body alight with his touch, the need he’d built on that bonfire bench. There wasn’t enough time to contemplate what changed or when—maybe it was the way he defended me and took care of me, or perhaps this was all a long time coming; I just knew I wanted this man on his knees for me.
“For two years, you’ve tempted me with these flimsy little things, always prancing around the office, swishing your hips as you walk away,” he growled, hands on my legs. Nonsense, of course. “That outfit you wore to the Kentucky Derby had me so bent out of shape I took an ice bath when I got back to the estate.” We’d taken that trip to network with a new acquisition. I remembered the blush dress as well as the back of my hand because I’d never felt so…feminine. Unexpected tears welled in my eyes.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted. Why the hell did he remember that?
“Sometimes, you keep threats at arm’s length.”
“And I’m a threat?” I breathed, the words barely audible as he moved both hands to the leg in question.
“To my sanity and our working relationship? From the day you sat at that table with my brother.”
It felt like the mental anvil you left in a confession booth, shrouded by sworn secrecy, heavy as though I’d pried it from him.
Impossible, my brain argued. I’d been a gnat buzzing too close to his impeccable hair for years. An annoyance. Not temptation.
Taking his time, Greyson grazed those firm fingers down my leg until he hit the leather straps wrapped around my calf. Eyes never leaving mine, he drew one away and then the other.
His lips twitched as he unwound them bit by bit. “Attraction is a cruelty when circumstance prohibits it.” Sentence punctuated by an audible wince, he grimaced down at my foot, sucking all that sex appeal out of the space as he muttered, “Christ, what’d you do?”
With a pained sigh, Grey rose, straightening to his full height and moving for the sink, where he washed his hands thoroughly, eyes drifting my way from time to time. All I could manage was remembering how to breathe. He ducked out of the kitchen, muttering about the mud room, leaving me to my own company for a moment.
Suddenly acutely aware of the stinging in my skin, I glared at the slice across my foot. Dark crimson leaked in a steady stream, and I glanced over to my now stained heather brown sandal.
“Dammit, I liked those,” I complained, earning a chuckle from Grey as he reentered the room with a first aid kit in hand.
“I’ll buy you a dozen. Just sit still.”
“There’sMr. Boss man,” I drawled dryly.
“Shut up, you like it,” he teased.
Did I?Oh god, I might like it.
He didn’t leave me a whole lot of time to think that through because he lowered to his knees again and had me wincing as he examined it. The disgruntled wrinkle in his nose made me grimace in anticipation. Instead, I leaned back on my palms and decided to stare holes into the ceiling.
“You always want to live in California?” he asked as he slid my dress up and tucked it under my body weight.
“No,” I answered honestly. “But when you grow up in a town like Mistyvale, it’s kind of ananywhere but herephilosophy.”
“Noted,” he said simply. “Avoid the last frontier.” There was a searing sting and a tug that had my eyes watering.
“It’s not all bad,” my voice came out a little tighter.
“Had your heart set on marketing?”
“It sounded fun.”
“With your analytical mind, I would’ve taken you as a data analysis girl.”
“Boring.”
“But you’re good at it.”
“It lacks the human interaction I wanted.”
“Past tense?” he asked casually as another stabbing pain shot through my foot, and I bit my lip to keep from whimpering.
“Turns out I’m exceptionally good at protecting grown men’s egos,” I teased.