Page 88 of Not Mine to Keep

Kindness got me her eyes and her biting her lip.

Now I had to turn away. “I couldn’t sleep in the same room with you because I’d wind up in your bed,” I admitted,alsoagainst my better judgment. But I didn’t need her feeling cheap, used, or unwanted. Furthest thing from the truth.

“Wait, you still want me after what happened?”

I swiveled back around, unsure what to say, but then her gaze fell to her answer. I looked down to see my traitorous dick tenting my dresspants. “Safe to say that’d be a yes.” Why lie now? My cock had betrayed whatever BS I’d planned to say next. “You do realize it’s not just me suffering,” I began in some pathetic attempt to cover up my real feelings, ones I wasn’t supposed to be having. “You’re going to make every man you pass hard as a fucking rock when you walk by them today.”

She stood and set her hands on her hips like she was about to school me with that sassy tongue of hers.

“You planning on wearing that for your show tonight?” I asked, the words punching out hard and fast before I could stop them.

“No. Probably something sexy.”

If she didn’t define what she had on now as sexy, I was fucked.

She lifted a brow, waiting for me to snap. Too late. Already had. “Maybe you should consider changing, too. It’d be nice if you could blend in, so you don’t stand out in your ten-thousand-dollar suit.” She came closer, and I caught a whiff of whatever delicious scent she wore, making me a little dizzy. “And if you plan to tell me not to wear—”

“No, I don’t,” I said, not letting her finish. “My personal assistant hates doing my laundry when I get blood on white clothes, so I need to make sure I wear something dark.”

“Why would you get blood on your clothes tonight?” She stared at me as if genuinely confused.

Makes two of us, given my reaction to you.“Because when some asshole tries to lift your dress, I’ll be breaking his nose.”And a few other body parts.

Her nose wrinkled. “I’d prefer you not break anything at my show.” But then her shoulders collapsed as if realizing the very possible reality of that happening, which told me there’d been assholes in the past who had set their hands on her without her consent. “I’ll wear something a little less sexy, then.”

I should’ve said,Good.Instead, I lost my mind again. “No. You’ll wear whatever you feel like. You shouldn’t have to change how you dress because someone can’t keep their mouth shut or their hands to themselves.” Breathing hard at the very idea of someone bothering her,I added, “You have me now to teach them that lesson if needed.” I went over to my desk, dropped my palms to it, and bowed my head, trying to pull myself together.

The click of her boots warned me she was on approach, and my body tensed in anticipation of what she might say or do next. It was a coin toss with her how she’d react when it came to these moments between us.

Her hand on my back had me squeezing my eyes closed, and I’d never been so grateful for a knock on my door as I was now.

“It’s Izzy,” my sister called out.

“One second,” I told her, needing that second to compose myself before my sister read me like a book.

Calliope removed her hand from my back. “I thought she’d spend time with me while I was here, but she’s not even called.”

“I told everyone to stay away from you. My dad decided to ignore the memo today,” I admitted while pushing away from the desk. “Also, how come I didn’t know you grew up on a farm? It wasn’t in my research.”

“I’m not a celebrity.” She rolled her eyes. “No play-by-play of every detail of my life online. And why would there be?”

“But you didn’t tell me.” Why’d this bother me so much? Sensing what was coming next, I lifted a hand and added in an asshole tone, “Roll your eyes one more time at me, and—” I cut myself off when she peered at my desk, and her cheeks pinked, as if remembering the spanking from last night.Makes two of us now.“Come in, Izzy,” I said instead.

Izzy opened up but remained in the doorway, looking at us and sensing the tension.

Yeah, well, she was one to know about tension. It’d been that way this past week whenever she was in the same room with Hudson, but I’d kept my mouth shut about her weekend staycation at his place, where he claimed nothing happened. I was also certain Hudson hadn’t told my sister about all the “hunting” we’d been doing to channel our frustrations elsewhere and away from the women in our lives.

“You going to say anything?” I prompted when Izzy only stared at us, as if she’d caught two animals going at it in the wild and was too stunned to make a comment.

“Grump,” Izzy shot back, earning a smile from Calliope.

“Wonder why, after what you told me.” Shit, I hadn’t planned to tell Calliope about Gabriel. Not until I knew if there was anything even to tell, but I’d forgotten myself with how wound up the woman made me.

“What are you talking about?” Calliope reached for my forearm, and I dropped my focus to her touch, and that was all it took for my thoughts to vault back to last night.

“We should tell her.” Izzy came in and shut the door behind her. “It’s why I caught you before you left. She shouldn’t be left in the dark.”

“It’s still a theory at best,” I said gruffly, but gestured for her to go ahead anyway, since Calliope would never let me slam the door shut on that conversation now.

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