Page 13 of When The Night Falls

I was starting to realise that my body wanted something quite different from my mind.

‘I commend your grit, at least,’ I muttered and put my drink back on the table. Folding my arms, I hoped to hide my vigorous heartbeat.

Another smirk climbed to his annoyingly kissable mouth. ‘Thanks. I’m quite pleased with that attribute myself.’

He moved off his chair and grabbed the vacant spot beside me on the sofa. I stiffened when he draped his arm over the back of it, behind my shoulders. It wasn’t that I minded the intimacy. On the contrary, I seemed to enjoy it more than I was willing to admit.

‘Listen, let’s start over, yeah?’ he said. ‘I realise it’s a poor excuse, but I’ve had a rough day at work and, to make it worse, Andy and Chloe have been together for an entire decade. She’s practically my sister, so when I heard the news – two minutes before you arrived – I was very upset. I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to handle you well. I’m very sorry. I truly am.’

‘I still think you were unnecessarily rude.’

He wrinkled his nose. ‘Well, I tried to just be direct at first, but then you persisted and I got impatient, so I thought being rude was the best way to make you go away as quickly as possible. We were seriously in the middle of an argument.’

‘Were you able to sort things out at least?’

He shook his head. ‘We agreed to talk about it later.’

I nodded, wondering what the issue was. I refrained from digging further, though, because it was none of my business.

He brought me closer then. As I softened against his warm body, the scent of him struck me hard. He smelled intoxicating. Drugged, I inhaled the fragrance deep into my lungs. I picked up testosterone, something dark, something sweet, and plenty of challenge.

My Achilles’ heel.

‘You smell amazing,’ I blurted out without thinking. ‘What fragrance is that?’ Indeed, he smelled remarkable – even better than Jason did.

He shook against me, laughing, and leaned forward to grab one of my drinks.

‘Stick around, and perhaps I’ll tell you. And you smell amazing yourself.’ He leaned back again. ‘On another note, you’ve got three of these to finish.’

He raised my espresso martini toward my mouth, and he did not stop until he had placed the glass to my waiting lips. Consequently, my lips parted not because of the cold and solid material against my skin, but rather because of his surprising gesture. Wearing a smug smile, he tilted the glass and carefully poured a portion of the cocktail into my mouth.

I watched him the whole time, overwhelmed by his sensuality. I had never met a man quite so slickly domineering before. I had an inkling he was in the habit of getting his way.

He lowered the glass to allow my swallow, and he watched me intensely as I did. The expression on his face was strangely erotic. Was he imagining me swallowing something else?

‘I guarantee you, Sandra, that had we slept together, I would not have forgotten. So, where you might have seen me before, I don’t know – but I wish it were in bed.’

3 | won’t you come in?

His statement expelled the air from my lungs, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had me trapped in his gaze.

Astonished, I asked, ‘Are you always this crude?’

‘Sorry,’ he apologised insincerely and put my cocktail back on the table. ‘I can’t seem to think straight in your presence. My tongue travels before my mind.’

The edge of his mouth tucked up to form a crooked smile, and I recognised it as the one he had already presented several times. It was unique to him, and a testament to his cunning and calculating persona. The shape of it whispered tales of his intellectual conquests, of how sublimely he outwitted any opponent. Anyone could have been fooled by the invincibility it exuded, and yet, despite this, I thought I detected a hint of veiled vulnerability, and it intrigued me.

‘Anyway,’ he interrupted my analysis, ‘though I haven’t been acting my age, I’m twenty-eight. How old are you?’

Since I saw no harm in sharing this detail about myself, I said, ‘Twenty-three.’

‘So you’re in your—’

‘Ah-ah,’ I interrupted. ‘My turn.’ I pointed at my chest and his eyes followed. It occurred to me then that I had directed his gaze straight to my shy amount of cleavage. Immediately, heat flooded my face, causing a crimson blush to penetrate my faint layer of make-up. I hurried to lower my hands to my lap. William seemed equally bothered, his gaze veering to Olivia and Andrew.

Was it possible that he harboured at least a modicum of respect for me? I had just provided him with a golden opportunity to ogle my breasts, but instead, he had hastily looked elsewhere. It increased my faith in him. Perhaps he wasn’t so terrible after all.

‘First impressions,’ he muttered. ‘They can be surprisingly difficult to disprove.’

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