Page 71 of The Secret

“No.” I frowned, peering past him to the table where an almost empty bottle of whiskey stood, along with almost empty glasses. I’d seen that bottle in the cellar earlier – it had been full. “Are you?”

He stood up, leaning against the table. But I didn’t miss the way his eye twitched as he answered. “No.”

“Well, that’s good then isn’t it?” I went to move past him, but it was no coincidence he was now blocking the way. “Excuse me. I’d like to get some water.”

He moved his arms and shifted the smallest amount required to let me past, holding my breath as I did so I wouldn’t be assaulted with his heady, Murray scent. It put me, once again, under his watchful glare as I took a bottle of water from the fridge, needing to gulp it down to quench my sudden thirst. But it wasn’t working, because the longer he stared, the hotter I was becoming.

“Were you out with Jackson Foggerty?”

Penn and Rafe pushed back from their chairs, noisily screeching them along the hardwood floor. “Okay, this is our cue to leave.”

Murray didn’t even blink as they walked out, his eyes laser focused on mine like we were in a staring contest I hadn’t meant to enter. I was finding his contemptuous glower hard to hold, but the second I actually thought about his question anger started to bubble inside me because how fuckingdarehe?

“No.”

His jaw gritted hard under his thick stubble. “Well, that’s not what he said. I told you to stay away from him.”

It took me a second to breathe through my rapidly ascending rage and stay calm. “First off, what I do in my spare time is none of your business, and second, unless it’s related to Bell, you don’t get to tell me what to do.” I glared back before remembering Jackson Foggerty’s bizarre comment, which seemed to make more sense under the circumstances. “Nor do you have any right to warn people away from me. What is your problem?”

The green eyes I’d been fantasizing about all evening narrowed. “You! You’re my problem. Ever since you moved in, you’ve been my problem!”

I stopped a gasp from escaping, but could not stop my chest splintering into tiny shards. His words were a hard slap to the face and ones I wasn’t expecting, couldn’t even have dreamed him saying. Even in my slightly liquored up state, the pain was real, and I swallowed down the tears which threatened to fall. I wasn’t sure what I’d suddenly done to deserve this version of Murray, this vicious, angry man in front of me doing his best impression of a fire breathing dragon.

The alcohol I’d drunk added a level of bravado I wouldn’t have normally had. “Okay, well, that’s a simple problem to fix. I’ll move out while you go away for Easter and you can start looking for a new nanny. Bell almost sleeps through night anyway, so I’m sure you’ll be able to cope.” I turned away at the same time he did. “Or perhaps your girlfriend can help.” I murmured angrily under my breath, but not quietly enough.

A cupboard door slammed shut. “I TOLD YOU, I DON’T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!”

His voice was loud enough to wake up Bell, even though she was one floor up and across the other side of the apartment.

My entire body whipped round so quickly I heard my spine crack. Under normal circumstances I’d have likely flinched by someone shouting so loudly at me, but the tequila had taken the edge off, not to mention I was equally as annoyed with him. The bottle of water I was still holding got slammed down so hard it erupted like a geyser.

“Well that’s not what she said when she was standing at the front door looking at me like something she’d trodden in!”

Even with his nostrils flaring he looked sexy. Why did he have to look so fucking sexy when he was being an unbelievable asshole? And why was I finding his fury such a turn on?

“Are you saying you don’t believe me?”

“You didn’t believe me when I told you I didn’t go out with Jackson Fucking Foggerty. HOW IS THIS ANY FUCKING DIFFERENT?!”

His neck jerked back in surprise, his eyes gaping before a grin came out of nowhere, splitting his face in half, which only served to make me even angrier.

“What’s so fucking funny?!”

His booming laugh was the cure-all for diffusing tension, but only in the air, because inside me, there was now a different tension building… One I was trying to ignore.

“I’ve never heard you swear before. I’ve never even seen you angry.”

“I swear.” I mustered up as much annoyance as I could, but my tone had lost all wrath.

“No,” he shook his head slowly, his demeanor relaxing back into the Murray I was familiar with. “I’ve never heard you swear. Or shout.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve never pissed me off this much before.” My arms crossed over my chest of their own accord, and I glared again until his smirk turned devious in a way that set off a deep, traitorous throbbing between my legs, soaking my panties.

“Pissed you off, hey? Who are you and what have you done with my cookie baking nanny?”

He took a slow step toward me while the rest of his body remained deathly still, reminding me of an Apex predator waiting to pounce, and I was his prey. The throbbing intensified, along with my need to take a full breath. I was suddenly desperate to suck in all the oxygen I could, knowing I wouldn’t get another chance any time soon.

“Kit, I don’t have a girlfriend.” He emphasized every word to make sure I understood, and in a tone I’d never heard him use; gravelly, voracious and dangerously sexy.

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