Page 21 of Seductive Hearts

This was happening.

It was really happening.

But instead of letting me enjoy it, my stupid brain had to fight. “Colton, we shouldn’t…”

His breath warmed my already flushed skin. “But do you want to, Rose?” He didn’t know my heart was mixed up in this.

“Yes,” was all I could whisper back before I leaned up, and his mouth was on mine, and the whole world exploded in bright colors, glitter, and fireworks.

“Tell me something,” he whispered. One of his hands landed on my waist, then began sliding down to my hip, closer to the heat threatening to boil over. I had to fight the impulse to part my thighs to make room for him.

How much longer would I be able to hold back? I was almost in over my head, sinking, losing strength.

His fingers pressed against my denim-covered flesh before he whispered, “When was the last time somebody fucked you the way you need to be fucked?”

His question was meant to be seductive. I knew that. But all it did was dump a bucket of ice water over my head, shaking me out of my almost painful arousal and bringing me back to reality. I had almost forgotten exactly who had me pinned against the pillar and exactly why he was entirely the wrong person for me in every way.

“That’s none of your business.” I sounded a lot more like myself when I grabbed Colton’s wrist and pulled his hand off me. “You proved your point. We could be convincing if we had to.”

Still, he didn’t back away. He was a little breathless himself as if he had forgotten the point he was trying to make and let himself get caught up. I wasn’t stupid enough to take that as a compliment. He probably got hard twenty times a day.

“So that’s it?” he asked, backing off, and I hated the part of me that was sad when he did.

When was the last time I was good and properly fucked? I had no idea. I couldn’t remember. And that was clearly a problem since it made me dangerously vulnerable to certain arrogant jerks. It made me want to throw myself at them, wrap my body around theirs, and climb them like a tree.

I had a hell of a lot of anxiety to burn off.

My head bobbed before I found my full voice. “Yes. That’s it. If you think it’ll work, I’m willing to play along.”

“I’ll have somebody reach out to Landon and tell him we will be attending his fundraiser.” He looked me up and down before lowering his sunglasses and turning away. “Make sure you have a nice dress. You’ll want to impress him.”

So that was what it felt like to make a deal with the devil. I sank against the pillar once the sound of his engine faded, touching my flushed cheek to the cool marble.

I had four weeks of working together ahead of me and had barely made it through three days. Now, we’d have the added fun of a fake relationship to spice things up. “Landon…” I breathed, closing my eyes, “… you had better notice me fast.”

Because I had no idea how much longer I could come up with reasons to resist Colton.

7

COLTON

“How’s it feel being a working man?” Noah’s laughter filtered through the speaker on my phone and filled the bedroom. “Do you have calluses on your fingers yet?”

It was spoken like a guy who sold high-end real estate for a living. For him, a stressful workday involved back-to-back showings of an Upper East Side penthouse. “Working is everything I was always promised it would be.” Straightening my bow tie, I muttered, “It makes me wonder how most people get through the fucking day.”

“It’s that bad? I figured it was kind of a figurehead position. Sit around typing on a laptop, pretend to send a few emails, and make sure everybody knows you’re watching.” He snickered. “You’re goddamn lucky. Rose probably doesn’t trust you to handle much.”

My reflection scowled at me. “I can handle shit,” I reminded him, glancing down at the phone. “I know what I’m doing.”

He groaned. “Shit, man. You know I’m fucking with you. And don’t tell me my sister isn’t micromanaging every second of the work.”

“She is hands-on.” Though not as hands-on as I’d expected. I figured she’d be up my ass morning, noon, and night. If anything, the way she’d stepped back was a little disconcerting. As of Sunday, she was a nervous little hummingbird, fluttering around and reminding me of everything she had riding on this.

Since then, we’d barely exchanged a few sentences while this night loomed in front of us. No doubt she felt it too. Every time she’d avoided eye contact or left a room because I entered it, I reminded myself there wouldn’t be any way to avoid me tonight. Not when she wanted to impress her beloved Landon.

The fundraiser was set to begin in less than fifteen minutes. “I’ve got to fuck off now,” I told Noah. “Gotta head over and pretend I was ever friends with that spineless little shit, Jones.”

“I’m a little bummed you didn’t score me an invite.” He laughed. “And there I was, thinking we were tight.”

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