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“What does that mean?” I ask, moving in again. It’s so difficult to be close to her and not touch her. I can smell her light perfume. It’s calling to me like a beckoning finger.
Her hair is up in a messy bun, showing off her delicate face and the slope of her neck. Moles like constellations dot the side of her throat. I want to trace those constellations with my fingers. With my tongue.
She’s wearing a simple white blouse tucked into a long, flowing skirt. Nothing about that outfit is revealing and yet my body reacts like I have her spread-eagle and naked on my bed.
It’s always been this way. This… unexplainable. The things Clarissa does to me, the way she sits in my mind, in my heart, under my skin—I wish it made sense, but I’ve stopped trying to quantify it.
I’ve got iron-clad control of every other area in my life. I can switch my emotions on and off. Like a light. One flick and I’m cold.
But with her?
The switch gets hit by lightning and it surges, sparks flying everywhere.
Hell, I’d forgotten what it was like to have such a powerful attraction to someone. To feel—not just desire—but a near roaring desperation burning through me.
No wonder I was so miserable these past ten years.
No wonder no one else could measure up.
I was waiting for this.
For her.
“I don’t want you here.” She steps around me and stalks deeper into the room. “Go back to your world where you belong, Cody.”
“I’m here to help.”
That stops her in her tracks. She turns slowly. “You? Help?”
“Yes.”
She glides toward me, her hips swaying lightly with every step. There’s something sharp and calculating in her eyes that I don’t particularly like. “Youcare about female-led businesses? Why?”
“Everyone deserves an opportunity to provide for their families.”
“Don’t waste your time, Cody.”
“It’s mine to waste.”
She’s thinning her lips like someone desperate to find a flaw in a math problem. “I don’t—”
“Come on, Ris. At least hear me out.”
Her stare turns even grumpier. “That’s rich coming from you.”
“Let me invest in this place.” I step close to her. Voice low, I whisper, “Youneedthis. The women from the shelter need this.”
Her eyes dart to the left. The first sign of a faltering conviction.
I know her soft spot. Clarissa cares about people. It’s a weakness and I’m in the habit of exploiting those.
“I heard that things have been tough around here.” I push my pitch a little harder. “This is the only option.”
Her head whips up and she takes a giant step back. “Quite convenient, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“I went on a little tour this morning. Re-visited all our corporate sponsors. And you know what I found out?”