Page 34 of Resisting Mr Black

His brows twitch in confusion as my words resonate with him. “I’m sorry if how I act comes across like that sometimes.”

“Sometimes!” I flail my arm in the direction of the road. “You just paid the taxi driver to leave, so I’ve got no choice but to accept a lift from you. How is that not controlling me?”

“It’s not. It’s just…” He steps towards me looking perplexed. “I’d want to control you in bed, but I don’t want to control you. That’s very different. To do that would be to extinguish your character and although you drive me crazy with your stubbornness, like now, I wouldn’t want you to change for the world.”

And just like that, he’s pulled the rug from beneath my feet again. He doesn’t want to control me in the same way Theo did. He wants me for me. And I want him for him, not for his money or the niceties it brings. The parts of him that I’ve seen are to die for and I’m betting the parts that are hidden are just as exquisite, but the thought of getting naked with this guy pushes me to a whole new level of anxious.

I look at the open passenger door and hesitate. He’s like no other man I’ve met before, and it makes me excited and anxious all at once. Going to dinner with him or going back to his place would lead to the inevitable, and I’m not ready for that amount of naked gorgeousness to be unleashed upon me yet.

Am I?“I’m not going to dinner with you.”

“Okay,” he agrees. I’m taken aback by the lack of challenge in his reply. “Please, Sophie, let me drive you home.”

I sigh. “Okay.”

He watches me for a few seconds as I make my way over to the car as if checking I’m not going to do a runner again, then walks round to the driver’s side and climbs in.

No sooner have I closed the door than he puts the car in reverse, and we’re moving.

“Put your seatbelt on,” he orders, accelerating down the lane with speed. A cloud of dust hangs in the air behind us as I look at the wing mirror.

“Why are you so obsessed with seatbelts?” I huff sliding the belt around me and clicking it into place.

“Because they keep you safe.”

I’m not sure whether he means they keep everyone safe or just me.

I clutch the edge of the leather seat as we round a bend and I glance over at the speedometer to find he’s doing fifty.

“At the speed you’re driving I’m glad I’m wearing it.”

“You think I’m driving too fast.”

“Youaredriving too fast,” I cry.

He immediately takes his foot off the accelerator and I know I’ve hit home. “Sorry. I’ve always had a heavy right foot.”

I’m grateful for the slower speed and loosen my grip, looking out of the passenger window. “How did you know I’d left work?”

“I saw you walking down the drive.”

“So, you ran down three flights of stairs after me?” I ask the question because I can’t quite believe it.

He doesn’t reply, his eyes fix ahead on the road.

“How long did your friends stay?” I ask, unable to help myself.

“Not long. I didn’t know they were coming.”

Clearly, or you wouldn’t have invited me up to your office and tried to kiss me,I think cynically.

I stare out of the window. “I don’t think Tara’s very keen on me.”

He casts me a sideways glance and the edges of his lips curl in amusement. “I don’t think you’re very keen on her, either.”

“She looked at me as though I was a piece of shit, what do you expect?” I snap, unable to contain my irritation.

“I’m not debating that. Tara’s just...” He sighs and taps his fingers against the steering wheel. “She’s not a woman’s woman. She’s more of a man’s woman.”

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