Page 52 of Foreplay on Words

He looked at me quizzically. “New character? How does a photographer tie in?”

“That’s his day job...” I trailed off.

His eyebrows raised. “And he’s a serial killer by night?”

“Well, he does like to call himself the slayer sometimes, but not because he kills people,” I giggled. He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“I’m so confused.” His face pinched up.

I took a deep breath and put it all out there.

“He has a particular set of talents that he let me document to write Michael.”

The look on Evan’s face was priceless. Part arousal, part pure terror.

“And...uh...you...” He was scratching the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact with me.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I grabbed his chin and forced him to make eye contact with me. “Talk to me.”

“Will he touch you in front of me?” he whispered as he stared down at me. His eyes looked pained, and it startled me.

“Well, he’ll need to if we want to make sure we’ve got the moves right.” A certain amount of hands-on teaching came with being a Dominant.

He pulled my hand from his face and turned around to stalk into the kitchen. He braced his palms out in front of him with his head hung low.

Shit.

I put my laptop on the coffee table next to the box and cautiously walked up behind him.

“Hey,” I whispered as I placed my hand carefully between his shoulder blades.

“Stop.” His voice was low and gruff as he dipped his shoulders to shrug off my touch.

“What’s going on in there?” I asked as I ran a finger across his temple.

“I guess I just thought...” The sigh he released was full of pent-up anguish.

“Thought what?”

He shook his head roughly from side to side. I could hear him taking shallow breaths, and I was getting worried. “I thought you were mine.”

Oh!

He thought I’d been intimate with Emory. Shit. I hadn’t been clear about my past with him. And with how things started with us, he had every right to be upset.

“Do you want me to be?” My heart was pounding in my chest as I waited for his answer.

Evan

Connecticut

Fuck!

The thought of her letting another man touch her with me standing there made me want to punch something. I ran all those scenes with Michael back in my head, but Chase was the one on her knees instead of Kayla.

She said it was research, although I wasn’t sure if this guy had touched her intimately or not. If he’d let his hands roam her bare body. It was killing me.

“Evan...?” Goddamn it. Of course, I wanted her to be mine. I didn’t know how to tell her that and demand this prick not touch her at the same time.

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