Page 10 of Code Red Chemistry

Her skeptical look trails after me as I make my way toward the exit, in the opposite direction from where Levi approaches. But he’ll follow. Of that, I have no doubt. Even if I didn’t win his bid, I have a feeling he’d come after me.

Because Libby was right. The cocky grin that spread across his face when he first spotted me from the stage melted away and his eyes darkened when he took in this dress. The memory of his heated gaze sends electricity skittering across my skin, even now as cool air from the hallway brushes it.

Earlier, as I entered the hotel, I passed a quiet alcove tucked off to the side past the lobby, and I’m heading there now. It’s the perfect spot for step one of my new plan. A littleconversationwith Levi.

Not that it will take long. Odds are, we’ll slip away to some form of a coat closet in less than five minutes flat. Because getting him out of my system tonight is the smart solution. The practical answer to the way seeing him again has thrown my sex-deprived libido into overdrive. We’ll have one more romp toshow him what he’s missing, and then I can move on with my life. After all, I hold the cards tonight. Unlike last time, when I followed his lead.

The click of my heels on the marble floor echoes in time with my racing pulse as I slip down the low-lit corridor. Sure enough, Levi’s footsteps sound behind me, his ground eating stride gaining on me by the second. I peel off into the alcove where the soft amber glow and hushed quiet feel worlds away from the ballroom’s bright glitter.

He slides in behind me but stops inches away, his presence a tangible heat that doesn’t make contact.Why not?We both know where this is going. One brush of his strong fingers along my hip, or the hum of his irresistible lips along my shoulder, would confirm we’re on exactly the same page.

“Congratulations,” he says, the single word soft and low.

“I could say the same to you.”

“True.”

I spin to face him and grab hold of the satin peak lapel, the fabric smooth under my fingertips. “You were right.”

His eyes narrow. “About what?”

I offer a saucy smirk and look up at him through lowered lashes. “I can’t resist a man in uniform.”

A hint of a smile curls his lips, and his eyes rake over me. But instead of a witty comeback and the quick surrender I expected, he says, “You look stunning, though nothing like that pale-pink gown I remember.”

My pulse stutters. “I thought you couldn’t remember what I wore at the wedding.”

“I lied.” The simple admission, in a deep gravelly tone, sends a fissure of hesitation to my prefrontal cortex, but it’s overruled by the molten heat pooling low in my belly.

Plus, I didn’t come here to analyze why he remembers a dress I wore five years ago on a night that meant more to me than itshould. I came here to get him to give me what I want. “Well, since we both know where this is heading, why don’t we skip the formalities and find somewhere more…private?”

Heat flares in his dark eyes, turning them molten. Victory surges through my veins until a muscle in his jaw works and he issues a single word.

“No.”

The firm rejection hits like a splash of cold water.

“No?” My brow knots as I drop my hand.

“You won a date, Dr. Meyer. A proper one. Paid good money for it.” He takes a step back and crosses his arms over his chest as if to put a barrier between us. “And I aim to deliver.”

My stomach does a backflip. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. I erase the distance and press my breasts against those arms, relishing the way his gaze drops to my cleavage. “Since when are you interested in a proper date?”

He swallows hard and blows out a long breath, as if turning me down requires drawing from a deep reserve of willpower.

“Plus,” I press, my raging hormones not ready to accept his answer without a fight, “this would be so much simpler.” I slip a finger into his waistband and tug him closer.

He looks off, but not before I see the resistance crumbling, like an old stone fortress, in his eyes. A silent beat passes as the debate rages across his chiseled features.

“This, is exactly what got us into trouble before,” he murmurs, grabbing my hips and spinning us both around until my back is against the wall, his stiff length unmistakable against my belly, “

The spicy notes of his damn cologne wrap around me like a caress, short-circuiting my ability to think straight. Suddenly, the alcove feels too small, the air too thick as my lungs constrict, pinned between Levi and the wallpapered wall against my back.

“I thought you liked trouble.”

“Look where it got us.”

I don’t want to think about that now. And I definitely don’t want to consider the laundry list of reasons seducing Levi Reyes again is a bad idea. Including the way I feel more alive in his presence than I never have with another man, before or since him. All I want right now is the blazing orgasm I know he’ll deliver.

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