Page 36 of Undeniable

“You did always look best bent over.”

I groaned, straightened, and fumed at the smirk on his lips. “You really can’t help but follow me in here, can you?”

I didn’t turn around and wait for a response; instead, I continued my search around the bookshelf and along the wall next to the table.

“What happened?” The concern in his voice was clear that time and rang through my body with enough force that I nearly stumbled over nothing. I chanced a peek at him over my shoulder, only to find him standing in front of the door, arms crossed over his chest. His navy suit jacket pulled tight around his biceps that were bulging against the fabric.

“Don’t act like you care,” I spit out, pushing aside a few books and a random picture frame of the entire staff before moving on.

“What happened on your date, Ivy?” My annoyance at both James’s intrusion and my inability to find my damn keys got the better of me, and I whipped around, hoping that the worst evidence of my earlier breakdown had disappeared.

“We just weren’t compatible. It happens,” I lied, and he narrowed his eyes like he knew it. He rubbed a hand over his jaw, and I noted the blond scruff there. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him not clean-shaven. He looked better with a little facial hair—a little less annoyingly perfect.

“Stop lying to me.” There was a threat in his voice that made it harder to breathe. Why did it always feel like the room was shrinking around us? Like the air was thinning and the floor was unsteady.

“I’m not—”

He shook his head once. “Not going to work. Tell me.”

With a groan, I mimicked his body language and partially hid myself from his all too perceptive gaze. Out of spite, I said, “He said that I didn’t look like my photo because, yes, I use fucking dating apps, okay? Now, can you leave me alone so I can find my keys?”

He didn’t give me a second to think, let alone continue looking for the damn things. “What? He expected you to be taller? Your hair to be more red?”

I rolled my eyes because if I didn’t, I worried I’d cry again. I was too vulnerable for his usual crap and I had to force myself to swallow before I said anything more.

“No, you dipshit. He expected me to be skinnier. Are you happy now?” I yelled and threw my arms out to my sides and then motioned to my body like he didn’t know what I was referring to.

His face dropped, and his jaw ticced. He uncrossed his arms and his hands reflexively balled into fists at his sides.

“He did what? He told you that?” The several feet between us were suddenly gone as he paced forward. Instinctually, I stepped back and ran into the bookshelf behind me.

Each step echoed in the quiet room. Our breathing was the only other sound besides the thumping bass below. My own breath was sharp and ragged in my ears. My emotions were exposed and too raw for me to handle the way he was looking at me. Like he’d gladly burn the world down for me.

But that was a lie. If he wanted to, he would’ve burned the world down a long time ago.

“You showed up looking like this,” he motioned to me, allowing his eyes to follow the path of his hand down the length of my body and ever so slowly back up. His attention paused on my hips, then my waist, and finally, my cleavage before his eyes met mine once again.

The attraction that simmered between us was, at one time, like an actual living and breathing thing. And I could feel it flickering back to life the longer he stood there, in my space, reminding me of the past, yet looking at me like I was the only future he wanted.

“He must have been blind,” James muttered almost so quietly that I thought he was speaking to himself. Even with little room left between us, he stepped forward again, reaching out his hand and running the backs of his fingers down my left arm.

My eyes shuddered closed at the sweetness of his touch, and I felt him step closer still.

My thoughts were clouded, yet I knew that I should’ve pushed him away. Whether he knew it or not, he was preying on my vulnerability. I was too susceptible in my weakened state.

But I didn’t move or push him away. Instead, I let him brush his fingers against my own and then start the torturous ascent up my body. The pads of his fingers swept over my upper thigh and continued along the curve of my hip. The heat from his touch penetrated the fabric of my dress, and I nearly gasped when his palm flattened and his fingers wrapped around the smallest part of my waist. His grip was possessive.

My eyes flew open at the sudden change, but he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were glued to the spot where he held me. He squeezed tighter and he sucked in a breath, one that I wouldn’t have noticed had we not been only inches apart.

“A woman’s body,” he murmured, “made for a man’s hands.”

His eyes finally flashed to mine and what I saw reflected back to me made me light-headed.

I was just catching up to the quick turn of events when the door swung open behind James.

“Hey, Ivy, I found your—” Josh’s words quickly fell away the moment he spotted us pressed together against the bookcase. “Keys,” he finally finished, and the reminder of why I was there was enough to break our connection and make me move.

In a second, I was striding across the room and thanking Josh while retrieving the keys from his outstretched hand. I didn’t care what Josh thought he’d walked in on. I didn’t look back as I hurried down the stairs, through the bar and into the warm night.

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