Page 60 of Single Malt
“There you are.” My arm slid around her waist as if it belonged there, and when I kissed her cheek, the smell of her shampoo made my stomach clench with a jolt of desire so strong that it almost took my breath away. I ignored it and faced the man who was frowning at me, giving Freedom another squeeze as I pasted on a fake smile. “If you’ll excuse us, I need to borrow Freedom. I’m sure you understand.”
“Yes, Dr. Worthington. I need to have a conversation with Brody here.”
Her tone was polite, but I could hear the undercurrent of tension in her words. For a moment, my confidence faltered, and I wondered if I’d misread things between the two of them. Then she grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hall and through a door and into a supply closet.
I was just preparing a smart-ass remark about her returning the favor from the last time we were in a closet like this when I realized that she was glaring up at me rather than getting ready to thank me.
Shit.
“What the hell was that all about?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “You just see some guy talking to me and go all caveman and claim me? Are you jealous, is that it? You didn’t like seeing me talking to another man, so you just decide to act like I belong to you?”
I opened my mouth to tell her that I’d thought the man had been harassing her, but she didn’t give me a chance to speak. As if she knew what I was thinking, she shifted the focus.
“Or was it more that you thought I was in danger and only you could protect me from the big bad man?” Her eyes narrowed. “That’s what it was, wasn’t it? You wouldn’t be the jealous type because the only thing between us is sex.Wassex. Past tense. So you wouldn’t have been bothered by someone flirting with me. No, you’re the hero type, aren’t you? The white knight who has to save the damsel in distress because she’s incapable of doing it herself.”
Shit, this had started bad and was heading straight to worse.
“Well, news flash, you arrogant bastard. I am entirely capable of taking care of myself, even against men like Korbin.”
Korbin.
She’d called him Dr. Worthington to his face, which made me wonder if that’d been for appearances. Maybe she did have a more intimate relationship with that man, and I’d just happened to see the end of some sort of tiff.
Hell, maybe he’d approached her earlier just like I had at the exhibit, and she’d been putting him in his place when I’d interrupted.
It shouldn’t have mattered. I shouldn’t have gotten involved. Like she’d said, she could’ve handled the situation herself. And if she’d underestimated him, one scream for help and people would’ve come running. She hadn’t been alone in a dark alley at midnight or at a loud club where no one would have heard her. She was well-known, and from what I’d observed, well-liked.
She hadn’t needed me, and it sure as hell looked like she didn’t want me.
But I wanted her. As much as I ever had. Maybe more.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes flashing. She might’ve been pissed off, but that looked very similar to when she was turned on, and my own body was just as confused as my mind.
“Okay, so maybe the only way I could’ve taken care of him would’ve been to knee him in the balls, and that wouldn’t have gone over too well, but I still could’ve done it.”
I suddenly felt the urge to cover my crotch in case she decided that my behavior deserved a shot to the groin.
“Ugh!” She shook her head. “Why is it that men will only believe that a woman isn’t interested in them if she has a significant other? A woman should be able to say no and have it mean no. No excuses, no reasons needed. Just an ‘I’m not interested.’ Why do they have to see that she already has someone? Hell, half the time, even that doesn’t work. If she’s with a woman, it’s because she hasn’t met the right man. If she’s married, she must be looking for excitement.” She pointed her finger at me. “Seriously. What is wrong with your entire gender?”
That was a question far above my pay grade, but she didn’t seem to actually want an answer because she kept talking. It was the most I’d ever heard her say at one time, and I had to admit, I was enjoying it.
Implied threat to my manhood aside.
“And why are you even here in the first place? Are you stalking me? Come to see if I’d sneak away with you again? Get lucky in a bathroom or in your car? Because if that was the case, you’re a complete jerk. And how’d you even know I was here? I hadn’t planned–”
Okay, I took it back. Enough talking.
I closed the distance in one step, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck and yanked her against me, covering her mouth with mine before she could do anything but let out a surprised squeak. Her hands were against my chest, and I waited for her to push me off. Slap me. Tell me to get the hell out. I would’ve apologized and left. Stayed away from the campus until she’d graduated.
But she didn’t push me away. In fact, her hands grabbed the front of my shirt, and her tongue darted out to touch my bottom lip. She rubbed her body against mine and made a hungry sound that broke down any second thoughts I might’ve had.
Damn, if everything hadn’t just flipped completely upside-down.
Thirty-Nine
Freedom
Everything I’d planned went rightout the window the moment his lips touched mine. All the reasons I’d had for being angry at him for acting like I needed rescuing disappeared. All of the logical arguments I’d made about why it was better not to see him anymore vanished. Any thought I might’ve had about where we were was silenced. The only thing remaining was sensation.