Page 100 of Obsession

He stepped away from the wall and straightened his shirt. “Actually, it was for sale, and now it’s mine.”

I sputtered out a breath and something resembling a growl until finally I found my words. “And you don’t see the problem here?”

“No.”

“You fired me not even a week ago.”

“One has nothing to do with the other.” He advanced toward me. “And I came with a peace offering today. But it turns out I didn’t even need it. You wanted to see me just as much as I wanted to see you.”

“No.”

“Come now, Ms. Copeland?—”

“Oh, no.” I sliced the air with my hand. “No, you are not going to start that crap. I’m not your employee anymore.”

One dark brow rose. “Because you lied to me.” Calmly, he moved the chairs back into their correct spots in front of his desk. “I haven’t quite figured out why, or what your end game is, but that’s not what we’re discussing.”

“It should be,” I sputtered.

Our gazes locked. “Do you really want to go there?”

I ground my teeth together but said nothing.

He skirted around the chair I’d spent so many hours in, his steps measured and slow. “This isn’t about your art piece.”

“It is.”

“No, it’s not.”

I lifted my chin. “I’m not a whore.”

He went stone still. “What?”

“After what we did today.”

“We had sex. It wasn’t the first time, and it damn well won’t be the last.”

Exasperation clogged my throat. “You can’t come to the gallery and with that flimsy excuse?—”

“We had a Thanksgiving celebration at work today and it felt wrong that you weren’t here. I…” His cool demeanor faltered.

The muscle in his jaw jumped.

I couldn’t tell if he was actually getting angry, or simply didn’t like what I was saying. I didn’t really freaking care. “Let’s review. You literally fired me five minutes after you were inside me.” My breath hitched.

The rooftop, that entire night had been amazing. Seeing him in a different light—where he cared about a stranger’s child enough to want to help.

He made me feel far too much.

“That was less than a week ago. Then you come to the gallery and we…” Guilt and anger wrapped around every emotion I had for this man.

“We wanted each other,” he finished for me. “You can’t deny that.”

“Of course, I can’t. I have the shredded pantyhose and dignity to prove it.” I shut my eyes as pleasure and shame burned inside me. Every step I took reminded me of this afternoon. I loved how rough he was with me sometimes.

I loved that he made me feel so damn alive, but I still couldn’t get past the rest.

“This was the one thing you hadn’t touched. The one thing that was still mine and you still had to own part of it.”

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