Page 81 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

“You know I can’t.” He shakes his head. “When it comes to you, I have no control.”

“Well, find some.” I slap my palms against my desk and stand. “Listen, it’s the end of a very long day in an even longer week of what is probably the longest, most torturous year of my life. Please. Just. Go.” My voice raises an octave as I fight back the tears threatening to spill out.

Jackson reaches out and grabs my hand from across the desk. I feebly attempt to pull my hand from his grasp as his soft lips kiss the top of it.

“Have a great weekend, Savannah.” His voice, all husky and seductive, does something crazy to my insides.

“It’s Señora Sullivan,” I say weakly as I watch him—and I’m ashamed to say, his perfect ass—exit the room.

“They hate me, Maddie,” I say over the loud country music as I take another sip of wine.

Madison Tate has been my best friend my entire life. We’ve essentially lived parallel lives from the moment we were born, a mere month apart. From baby beauty pageants to Miss Teen South Carolina competitions, every step of my childhood has included Maddie by my side. We’re complete opposite in looks—she’s light skin, blue eyes, and blond hair while I’m tan, dark hazel eyes, and brunette—but we’re identical in spirit. As only children of highly respected parents in this town, she’s the only one who truly understands me. The other difference between us is that her parents, though influential in this community, are much more easygoing than mine.

“They don’t, Savvy. They just hate Spanish.” She shrugs.

“I’m beginning to despise it, too. The language of love brings me so much hate.” I sigh before gulping down the rest of the liquid in my glass.

“Another?” Maddie waves across the bar to our server, motioning for another round of drinks.

“I can’t. That was my third.”

“It’s Friday night. Four glasses of wine is completely acceptable.”

“You know my mother will hear about it.”

“So what? You’re of age. It’s not like you’re dancing naked on the bar. I think it’s okay,” she says with an air of annoyance. “Sav, you need to move out of that house. Seriously. You’re an adult with a real job. Your parents need to loosen the reins a bit. Don’t you think?”

“I know,” I say on a sigh. “You’re totally right. You know how they are with their guilt trips, though. You still want to get a place together?”

“You know it.” Maddie clinks her glass with mine.

“I just need to get through this school year, and then I’ll move out. Yet I don’t know how I’ll make it another month of teaching, let alone a lifetime. I suck.”

“You definitely need some more wine.” Maddie chuckles. “You don’t suck. They always say your first year of teaching is the hardest. Next year will be better.”

“It has to be.”

“If not, you can always join the family business.” She raises her wineglass, and with a scrunch of her eyebrows and a lower voice, she says, “Tate Realty, where our goal is to make your dreams come true.”

I let out a loud laugh. “Your dad knows how cheesy that is, right?”

“I’ve told him.” She shakes her head with a chuckle. “Apparently, over-the-top cheesiness sells.”

“I’ll be right back.” I hop off my chair and head to the restroom.

When I exit the bathroom, my mind’s hazy but happy as I think about how fun it would be to live with Maddie. I gasp as arms wrap around my waist and pull me toward the back of the dark hallway.

Blood rushes through my veins as my heart pounds beneath my chest. A firestorm of emotions crashes down around me, yet the fiercest of them all is lust. I don’t have to see the man behind me to know who it is. I feel him. Breathe him. Know him. Like I have almost every day for the past eight months.

When we’ve reached the end of the hallway, he turns me in his arms as my back hits the wall. His gaze takes me in, leaving a trail of heat over every inch of skin it touches. He lifts his hand to my face and brushes his thumb across my cheek. I raise my hands to stop him, but he takes them both in his, and lifting them above my head, he holds them in a vise-like grip against the wall.

“Jackson,” I say in a pant, my voice betraying me.

“Savannah,” he answers, his eyes searching mine.

“Let me…you can’t…what are you doing here?” I stutter, trying to calm my racing heart.

“I saw you come in here. I needed to see you. You drive me fucking insane, Savannah,” he says, his voice raspy as unadulterated desire burns in his eyes.

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