Page 180 of If Our Hearts Collide

If her temper wasn’t directed at me, I might be able to enjoy it more. Except right now, my only focus is on what her next move will be.

“Look at me, Collins,” she demands. “Look at me, dammit!”

My eyes search hers. I am looking at her. Why does she think otherwise? “I see you.”

“Do you? Because from everything that just spewed out of your mouth right now, you don’t see me at all. You see some fragile girl who you were hired to protect. And I’m sick of it. I don’t blame my brothers for being detached from reality. But you? I expect someone as neutral as you should be to have some type of realization and rational thinking happening to understand that this is my life we are talking about.” She takes a step closer, making my heart stop for a beat. Stretching up on her tiptoes, she places a single hand on my chest for balance, asher lips move to my ears. “And I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she whispers.

Her warm breath tickles my neck, as the smell of strawberries permeates my senses, with such an intensity that I swear she bathed herself in the ripened fruit. I stand as stiff as a board as her upper body molds to mine. I can feel her pert nipples graze against the fabric of my shirt. She is a freaking temptress.

For fuck’s sake, don’t move your hips.

“I’m going to shatter your misinformed view of me. You just watch and see.”

She takes a step back, running her hands down the hourglass form of her body, from her chest to her hips. Biting her bottom lip, she gives me a smirk. This is where something indeterminable has changed. I can see it in her eyes. I can tell from the way her body hums with the knowledge that she is now in control.

And I’ll be damned, but will admit—it turns me on.

“Penny…”

“Remember this moment, Collins.” She marches out of her room and over to the ripped-out piece of paper that holds her goals. Taking a pen off the counter, she jots something down onto it. “Here,” she says, passing me the note.

Staring down at her elegant script, I mumble the words she added to the bottom of the list. “Become a member of Limit-X.” I look over at Penny, who looks absolutely smitten with herself. “Maybe I’ll make afriendthere.”

Oh, hell.

Penny is definitely speaking in code, and I’m hearing her euphemism loud and clear.

“If you expect me to stand back and watch you self-destruct, then you obviously have underestimated me.”

“If you expect me to be locked in this”—she waves a hand through the air—“gilded cage and play the sweet girl in this story, then you obviously don’t understand that the harder you try to stop me, the more reckless I’ll be.”

My jaw twitches as I allow her words to soak in.

I can tell by the gleam of commitment in her eyes that this isn’t a bluff. If I’m going to continue guarding Penny—and how can I even stop now given her declaration?—then I have to act like what she’s planning to do won’t affect me. Maybe if she thinks she has some control, then she won’t be hell-bent on trying to dangle herself in front of the first available taker.

This is something happening psychologically within Penny. She fears that every time she gets close to a man she’ll see Tanner, so she’s planning to counterbalance it by flooding her system with as many men as she can to desensitize herself.

It is reckless.

And it won’t work in her favor.

Someone is going to go too far with her, thinking she is “asking for it,” and I’ll have to come up with a burial plan for the unsuspecting idiot.

I can talk with the staff at Limit-X. A lot know me from my days of working there. Now is about the right time to call in a few of the favors owed to me.

I feign a casual shrug. “Listen, Pen,” I say casually. “Your brothers gave me strict orders to watch out for you, not dictate what you do every second of the day.” Although if I were to give them any hints as to where little sister wants to spend all of her energy, they would for sure construct that gilded cage and conveniently lose the key.

Her lips curl into a Cheshire cat smile. “Good.” Wiggling her fingers, she waves goodbye. “Have a good night, Collins.”

I watch her obedient facade, not buying the act at all. Every part of me wants to jerk her toward me and make her promisethat she’ll be a good girl. I refuse to back down—but neither will Penny.

I walk to the door backward, watching as Penny retreats deeper into her apartment. Is she going to lock herself in? Hell, I guess I can use the spare key I made. There’s no way in hell I’ll walk out of here and not even provide some level of security to her unit.

Running a hand through my hair, I exit, turn the lock into place, and then rest my back against the door.

How in the world am I going to survive the next few months when Penny Hoffman has a choke hold on my self-control and my libido?

I can no longer keep things professional, and I doubt anything could happen to make me flip the switch.

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