Page 12 of Dangerously Tempting

I nod, knowing she’s right, but not wanting our time to be over yet. I grab the handle to her luggage, lifting my brow at her until she gives in and lets me take it, turning towards the door with a laugh. I follow her out of the room, and grab the handle to my own luggage with my other hand before we make our way down the hall to the elevator.

The doors open, and we step inside. Once we’re situated, I release the handle of my luggage and take her hand, squeezing it as we ride down. She glances up at me, smiling, and my heart squeezes in my chest.

I know that it’s been such a short amount of time, but nothing has ever felt this simple or easy with a woman before. I’m sure the fact that our jobs aren’t in the way for either of us right now is a huge part of why it works so well, but damn if I don’t feel like an absolute idiot just letting her walk away like this. I have to remind myself that’s exactly what you’re signing up for with a one night stand, whether I like it or not.

When the doors open, I grudgingly release her hand to grab the handle again, and we step out and stop at the counter to hand over our key cards and check out before moving to the door. I hold it open for her before maneuvering both bags through the doorway and follow her across the lot to her car.

She pops the trunk when we get there, and I drop the handle before lifting her bag in and shutting the lid. I leave my own sitting near her bumper and step closer to her, burying my fingers into the hair at the nap of her neck one last time, tilting her face up towards me.

“Drive safely. Seatbelt, speed limit, and all that, okay?”

She rolls her eyes, but the smile on her lips counteracts it. “Is that an order, sir?” she mutters quietly so no one will overhear, and I growl.

“Does it need to be?” I step closer to her, caging her in against the car door with my body and the hand not in her hair on the roof.

“No,” she nearly whispers. “I’ll be safe.”

“Good girl.” Before I can change my mind, I dip my head down and kiss her one last time. It’s not anything erotic or deep, just a press of lips so that I can have that one last piece of her before she goes. I pull back, sliding one hand down to steady her, whilst pulling the driver’s door open with the other. “Don’t forget to stop and eat.”

“I won’t.”

“Goodbye, Amelia.”

“Goodbye, Jameson.”

I don’t know if I expect her to hesitate, or want that to be the case, but she doesn’t. She squares her shoulders, gives me one last heart-stopping smile, and climbs into her car. I step back and close the door as she buckles her seatbelt and starts the car. She gives me one last small wave before she shifts into drive and slowly pulls out of her parking spot and drives across the lot.

I watch her tail lights until she pulls out onto the road, and as soon as she’s gone from sight, I feel like I’ve lost a piece of myself. It doesn’t make any damn sense. I barely even know her, but I’m already regretting letting her walk away with this being a one-time thing. I want more.

It’s ridiculous, really. Because I don’t just want more, I want it all. I want to wake up every morning with her in my bed, her scent in my nose, her skin against mine. I want to share meals with her and talk about our day. I want to keep having our silly conversations. I want to fight over stupid shit and then fuck each other senseless when we make up.

There are so many things that I don’t know about her, and things that she doesn’t know about me. The key one is that I have no idea if she would even want all those things too. She seemed perfectly content with a one-time fling, but is that really what she wants? Did she just go along with that because it’s what I offered?

I rub a hand down my face and turn to grab my luggage. I’m almost at my truck when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and sigh when I see the number lighting up the screen. I thought I’d been clear enough at this point, but I guess I’m going to have to be a little more blunt to send the point home. I hit the accept button as I approach my truck and open the back door.

“Tori, this has to stop.”

“What do you mean, Jamie?” I cringe at the shortening of my name, but she just keeps going. “You’re getting pretty good at this game we’ve been playing.”

My eyebrows must reach my hairline I lift them so high. I knew she was a few crayons short of a full box, but now I’m wondering if there are any in there at all. How the fuck has she not understood that I want nothing to do with her?

“We’re not playing a game. I don’t want you following me anymore, or calling me. I’ve had enough.”

I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at the phone in exasperation when she laughs. “You don’t have to play so hard to get, Jamie-poo. I like the chase, but I don’t want to play like this forever though.”

“I honestly can’t even deal with you anymore. I’m blocking your number. Leave me the hell alone.” With that I hang up the call, having to swipe away another incoming call from her as I work to block her number. When it’s finally done, my phone falls silent and all I can feel is relief.

I sling my bag into the back seat before slamming the door closed, letting my frustration get the better of me for a moment. Inhaling deeply through my nose, I work to let it go as I step to the driver’s door and get inside.

Hopefully blocking her number is a loud enough reaction for her and she’ll move along to someone else. I don’t understand her infatuation in the first place. I met her in a building I was working in, much like the one I’m working in now, and took her on one date. That one date was more than enough to show me that she came on too strong, that we just weren’t compatible, and we went our separate ways. Or so I thought.

She started showing up everywhere. Not only at my job, but at any bar I’d go to, when I’d go to get groceries, and sometimes I’d run into her just walking down the street. I thought I was being paranoid until my closest friends started to notice too.

It lessened over time, but it was like she never fully gave up. She was like a stray cat, following me around looking for scraps, and I didn’t have any to give her. I wouldn’t give them to her even if I did. It was exhausting.

I thought for sure she was finally done. It had been almost a full month since I’d seen her face when I ran into her at the convention yesterday. At that moment I knew I might have to actually get a restraining order against her like my friends keep telling me to. I have my call logs, texts, and witnesses. Surely that will be enough if she won’t leave me alone even after blocking her number?

The irony in the whole situation is that without Tori, I might not have stopped at Amelia’s table. I could have just walked by, oblivious to the rare treasure of a woman I was passing up. Instead, she sent me straight to her.

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