Page 73 of Off Pitch

“No,” he starts before leaning to my ear and whispering. “You thought it would be your tits, didn’t you?”

“I had considered that,” I reply coolly.

“Yeah, I considered that, too.” I eye him knowingly. “You know how you look tonight, Harlow. It’s hard not to stare at every inch of you.”

“The way you’re dressed tonight, I’ve been eyeing every inch of you.” Knox cocks an eyebrow at me, and I reply in mock offense. “So dirty, Spencer.” I lean closer and brush my lips against his. “What kind of woman do you take me for?”

“The kind of woman who goes for what she wants. The kind of woman that’s tired of listening to the voice in her head telling her something is a bad idea.”

My breath catches, and my body heats up. The honesty in this exchange is something we’ve both been fighting. But I think we’re finally giving up.

“That does sound like me,” I admit, lowering my tone to help reel him in.

We stare at each other momentarily, desire flowing between us. Knox presses his lips against mine, kissing me lightly. “Thought I saw someone walking by,” he says with a smirk.

“There’s no one around us,” I reply. “If you want a kiss, you can just ask.” he laughs before he captures my mouth again, roughly this time.

I drape my arms around Knox’s neck as he rests his hands firmly on my lower back, very slowly letting them fall to my ass. He pulls me in closer as we continue our kiss, unable to fight his desire to have me all to himself. Everything becomes moreheated when he grinds his hips into me, letting mefeelhow hot this all is for him.

Knox breaks our kiss. “Harlow…”

“Knox…” I say breathily.

He’s fighting with himself right now; I can see the inner turmoil in his eyes. But when I place another kiss on his lips, he groans and kisses me back even harder than before.

When we part again, we both struggle to catch our breath. The air feels thick, deprived of oxygen. “Harlow…” he manages, pressing his forehead against mine. “Do you want to get out of here?”

All I can do is nod.

As we leave the dinner, Knox and I don’t say a single word to each other. He grabs his car from the valet as quickly as possible and breaks almost every traffic law to get us back to his place. The ride up the elevator to the top floor is excruciatingly long as we stand on opposite sides, knowing that’s the only thing keeping us from each other right now.

When the elevator dings to let us know we’ve arrived, Knox grabs my hand and quickly leads me off the elevator and straight to the door of his penthouse. He hurries us both inside before using his foot to push it shut as he finally kisses me again. He walks me backward to his kitchen island, lifting me up to sit on the cold marble.

Once I’m seated, the kisses become more frantic, none of them enough to sate our desires. I push his suit jacket off his shoulders, and he lets it fall, pooling at his feet. As I drape my arms around his neck, he plants one hand on the counter beside me and lets the other tease the exposed skin of my leg.

He slowly moves around the hem before sliding his hand under the fabric. Knox strokes his tongue against mine as he lightly trails his fingers up the inside of my thigh. I break our kiss and throw my head back, unable to hold back the low moan that escapes.

He uses this opportunity to pepper light kisses down my neck. “Harlow…” he says, pressing a kiss to the hollow of my throat. “Tell me you want this.” He kisses my jaw. “Tell me you wantme.“ He nibbles my earlobe.

The culmination of all this pent-up desire is almost too much to take. We’ve fought this for months now, and we still ended up right where we are now—letting go of our worries and taking what we want. I haveneverdesired somebody the way I desire Knox.

He said earlier that I’m a woman who goes for what she wants. Tonight, that’s never been more true.

We part lips and press our foreheads together. I look into his eyes as the easiest words I’ve ever spoken flow out.

“I want you, Knox.”

twenty-nine

Knox

I want you, Knox.

Any coherent thought I have leaves my body the moment Harlow says that. I’m done pretending I can hold back. I’m done listening to the part of my brain telling me this is a bad idea. Fuck all of the repercussions. We can deal with them tomorrow.

Harlow wraps her legs around my waist as I lift her from the counter, leading us directly to my bedroom, kissing her all the way. She removed her shoes, tossing them in the hall as we finally crossed the threshold to my room. Three long strides, and we hit the bed, her back hitting the mattress as I prop myself on top of her.

With her legs still wrapped around me, she makes quick work of the buttons on my shirt. “Eager to see me shirtless, huh?” I ask with a smirk.

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