Page 11 of Resisting Mr Black

“Come to dinner with me.” The words hang in the air between us, and he’s studying my face, trying to gauge my reaction.

Excitement and nerves dance in my stomach. This dangerously sexy guy is asking me out. The cynical side of my brain swiftly kicks in and dampens my excitement. Of course, he’s asking me out. He wants to make me another notch on his bedpost. And I bet he’s got a very tall bedpost.

“No,” I blurt. “I don’t want to.” I sound almost childish and it’s a blatant lie, but it’s the best response my brain’s giving me at the moment.

He tilts his head again and smiles back. He doesn’t look offended by my rebuke, it’s almost as if he’d anticipated it. “Okay. But you will change your mind and I will have you.”

The conviction in his tone sends tingles shooting between my legs and I’m pretty sure he shouldn’t have this effect on me. Before I can assure him that he won’t have me thank you very much, he puts out his right hand for me to shake.

I glance down at his forearm, toned and golden with a smattering of black hairs, then to his large hands and long fingers. My mind starts to wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped in those arms.

When I don’t respond, he retracts his hand and holds me by the shoulders, then leans forward. For a second, I stop breathing as I think he’s going to kiss me, but he presses his right cheek against mine and I feel the heat of his breath in my right ear.

“It’s been my pleasure, Sophie. Until next time.”

I close my eyes and bask in the sensation of his warm skin sliding against mine. The brush of his stubble against my cheek is soft rather than coarse and I can’t prevent a small moan escaping my lips. He draws his head back and removes his hands from my shoulders. For a moment he stands staring at me, a slight frown on his brow. He seems lost in his own world, then he shakes his head lightly and runs a hand down the front of his polo shirt as if collecting himself.

He throws a smile in my direction then saunters past me towards his car, his shoes crunching on the gravel. When I finally turn around, he’s nearly reached his car, and he’s looking over his shoulder at me, wearing his Ray-Bans. He opens the driver’s door, climbs, and starts the car engine, all without taking his eyes off me. The thud of bass rips through the quietness once more as the car roars into life, then he speeds off down the gravel driveway leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

I head back into the hotel in a daze as I try to work out what the hell’s just happened. “You lucky cow!” Lucy cries, practically jumping out of her seat.

I frown. “What?” I ask innocently in a bid to play things down.

“What?” she cries as if I’ve asked the most ridiculous question in the world. “The totally hot new boss is into you, that’s what.”

I shake my head. I’m still processing the events of the afternoon. “He’s an arrogant shit,” I say. “And he smokes.”

“But think of all the hot sex you’ll have.” Her eyes widen like saucers.

I press a palm against my forehead. I could do without this level of excitement from my best friend.

“He couldn’t take his eyes off you when he arrived, he couldn’t stop looking at you in the staff meeting, and then he asked for you to give him the tour. And out there...” She flings an arm in the direction of the front door. “I thought he was going in for the kiss. I mean I’ve heard about sexual tension but never actually seen it with my own eyes before.”

My eyes snap to Lucy, and she gives a shrug only looking mildly guilty. “So? I watched you. What did Mr Tall Dark and Handsome say to you, then?”

I roll my eyes. “You spied, you mean. And Mr Tall Dark and Handsome is far too cocky.”

“Define 'too cocky'?” Lucy asks curiously, chewing the top of her biro.

I fold my arms and heave a weary sigh. I feel physically wrung out. “He’s good-looking and he knows it. He asked me if I’ve got a boyfriend, then he said if I’d said yes, he would 'have them removed'.” Lucy almost chokes on the pen she’s chewing. “He said he’s going to have me, then asked me out, and when I said no, he told me I’d change my mind.”

“You said no!” Lucy bangs her hand down on the desk in exasperation. “You and I are going to fall out. You should go out with him.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively. “Let him have you, I say.”

Butterflies swirl my stomach at the thought of getting close to him. “I can’t, Luce. He’s too much, too intense, too full on.”

She stares off into the distance and I know I’ve lost her. “Fucking hell, Soph. I bet he’s one of those controlling dominant types in bed, but it’s okay because the sex is hot.”

I briefly close my eyes as a bolt of alarm runs through me. I’ve already escaped one controlling relationship and I’m not about to get involved with another. Before my thoughts can go any further, the rational part of my brain kicks in and tells me to stop being so bloody naïve.

Men like Art Black don’t want a relationship. He just wants to get inside my knickers.

Four

Itoss and turn all night. My brain is constantly occupied by a myriad of thoughts from bloody Art Black and his cocky gorgeousness to the fact I might have no job soon, and the possibility of a harmful substance in my flat that is going to render me homeless. I wake up irritated and in need of a hot shower.

I step out of my cupboard-sized bathroom with a towel wrapped around me and glance out of the tiny bedroom window onto the high street below. It’s barely eight o’clock in the morning and the sunny clear blue sky is signalling it’s going to be another warm day, so I need to dress appropriately.

I settle down on the edge of my bed and examine myself in the mirror, tweaking my semi-damp, mocha brown hair as it falls into natural waves across my shoulders. My eyes lack their usual sparkle due to the rubbish night’s sleep I’ve had. Five minutes later, I feel a little more human as a result of some carefully applied make-up and slip into a sleeveless jade-green dress. It’s light and summery, with a slight V-neck, andrests above my knee. I step into tan wedge sandals, sling my bag onto my shoulder, and I’m good to go.

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