Page 38 of Rival Hearts

“Maybe not,” she conceded. “But I know we can’t keep ignoring the environmental damage. Someone has to call it out.”

“So you’re choosing my company to call out, even though we have a strong record on sustainability?”

Maybe that wasn’t entirely true. We were looking into it but a lot of what we did was still damaging. Either way, we hadn’tmade any of our processes public yet. The investors didn’t like the idea of what transparency would do. I didn’t like that Charlotte, with her little speech, was forcing my hand to do something the company wasn’t comfortable with.

“You’re way out of your league here,” I added.

“Your company was cited as an example, not just by me,” she said. “I don’t make the news, I’m just speaking my mind.”

“Dammit, Charlotte, you could’ve approached this differently. We could’ve worked something out.”

Her gaze softened a little, and she glanced at me. Her eyes were searching, and her shoulders relaxed.

“How?”

I shook my head. “Fuck, I don’t know. You could’ve met with us, talked it through.”

She gave a rueful laugh. “Yeah, because you have such a good track record for being open about who you are.”

I groaned. “You’re never going to let that go.”

“I’m just saying, Alex, it’s hard to have a dialogue when you can’t be trusted.”

I laughed indignantly. “Trust is a big word, Charlotte. What happened between us was just a mistake.”

The rawness in her eyes when I said that pulled me up short. Surely she knew it was a mistake? She had to feel that way too? There could never be anything between us. Not just because of Gabe, but now because of all this… we were enemies. That was it. There were no two ways about it.

“I should get back in there,” she said, but the fight had gone out of her, and I didn’t understand what I was seeing. “I’m not going to apologize for something I didn’t do.”

She started to turn away from me and head back toward the bar, but I stepped in front of her, blocking her path. It put me right up against her, her body colliding with mine for a moment.

She looked up at me, her eyes drowning deep. Something passed between us, something that wasn’t angry by a long shot. Her lips were slightly parted, and fuck if I didn’t want to kiss her.

I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger, holding her in place, and her breath caught in her throat. My cock punched up in my pants. I wanted to push her up against the wall and grind myself against her. I wanted to slide my tongue between her lips and taste her. I wanted her hands tangled in my hair or running over my chest.

I wanted her.

Fuck.

She wanted this too; her body was tense, her eyes dark and dilated, her lips parted. Her chest heaved as her breathing became fast and shallow. I’d seen those glorious breasts naked, and holy shit, she was perfect.

I swayed on my feet, hypnotized by her, and she leaned forward a little. She wanted me, too.

What the hell was I doing?

We were in public.

She was the enemy.

If anyone saw us now…

I released her and stepped back.

“Be careful, Charlotte,” I said, my voice hoarse, and I cleared my throat.

“That sounds like a threat.” She said it in a breathy voice, like she wanted me to promise her all kinds of dirty things and then make good on them.

“It’s a warning,” I said. “You’re playing with fire, and I’d hate to see you get burned.”