Page 149 of In Spades

Apparently, he was handling things about as well as I was.

I didn’t look much better. Without poker night or girls’ night, I didn’t have an excuse to get dressed up. My wardrobe had been a depressing, repetitive cycle of work clothes and pajamas. I was still in my ugly Taylor Creek Inn polo and dark green cigarette pants when he opened the door.

Without another word, Will wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “You’ve gotta be freezing. Where’s your coat?”

He reached around me and pulled the door closed, trapping me between a wall of wood and a wall of man.

My eyes trailed down to the bulge in his gray sweats. Okay, so maybe I was trapped by wood on both fronts.

I was here for business, not pleasure, I told myself. I swallowed my desire to rip off his pants and sink down on that massive cock.

With a deep breath, I fortified my purpose by unleashing some good old-fashioned anger. “Exactly who do you think you are?”

“Uh…”

“You had no right to insert yourself into my family like that,” I shouted, stabbing him in the chest with my finger.

Will stumbled backward. Was he expecting a thank you?

I let a caustic laugh fly into the cathedral ceiling. “You have some nerve thinking you could lie to me about who you really are, then buy me off like that. How dare you!”

“Kristin, I?—”

“You what? You thought you could throw your money at me, and I’d fall at your feet? Well, spoiler alert! I will go to my grave without a penny to my name before I take anything from you.”

I stared into his eyes, my body trembling. Adrenaline and rancor coursed through my veins like poison draining me of anything good.

Will’s expression told me that he was done listening—which was probably a good thing. He took a step forward, pushing my back into the door. His corded forearms hit the wood on either side of my head with a resounding thud.

I flinched, but he didn’t recoil.

He licked his lips like a predator ready to devour its prey. “Are you done yet?”

“Not even close,” I hissed.

“Then go ahead,” he taunted, pinning me to the door with his hips. “Take it out on me. Give me your best shot.” Hazel eyes—fiery like lava, but sweet as honey—locked on mine. “Because when you’re done yelling at me, it’s gonna be my turn. And I’m gonna tell you that I called Matt about setting up those accounts the day I said that I love you.”

I opened my mouth to argue that we were done and there was no use loving me—present tense, but he beat me to it.

“And before you get snarky with me, I love you, Kristin. So fucking much. I haven’t stopped loving you and being iced out by you is fucking killing me. So, if this is what you need to do to work through how you feel, then bring it on.”

“You should have been a man and told me the damn truth.”

“Be honest. If I had told you the truth on day one, would you have given me the time of day?”

No! Because you’re my boss! The person with the purse strings holds the power.

“Probably not,” I admitted. Hot tears stung my eyes, the pressure building to critical. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m walking away anyway.”

“Kris…” His hoarse whisper cracked as he cupped my cheek.

I choked down a sob that threatened to break free. “You lied to me.”

He absorbed those four words like a gunshot to the chest. Bloody and broken in front of me, Will croaked, “I’m so goddamn sorry, Kris.” He shook his head. “I’m so sorry.” He rested his forehead on mine.

Like a magnet, I latched on to him as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I can’t even blame Elena,” he said. “It’s on me.”

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