Page 40 of Undeniably Enemies

“Did you drive?” Jack asks, still not looking at me.

“No. We Ubered.”

“Finish up, and I’ll take you home.”

Now I choke again. This time on my Wagyu. “Excuse me?”

His chin drops, and for a moment he doesn’t speak. He just stares straight into my eyes with a look that makes my chest tight and my belly flutter. He shifts, and more of his thigh brushes mine along with… his hand? No, it’s his thumb. Just a swipe of his blunt nail where the hem of my dress meets my thigh.

Is that intentional or incidental given the confines of our booth?

“Let me rephrase,” he speaks in a low voice. “I’ll drop you off at home.”

I shake my head. “I’d rather Uber.”

“And I’d rather you not get into a strange car with a strange driver looking like sex on legs.”

Defiantly, I glare up at him. “Lucky for me, it’s not your call to make.”

His jaw clenches, but what can he say? It’s not. I’m an adult, and while I don’t relish taking an Uber home by myself, that’s preferable to sitting in the car alone with Jack for twenty-five minutes.

“Are you ever not stubborn?” he hisses through gritted teeth.

“With you? No. Never.”

He shakes his head, his face twisted in dismay. He returns to the game, and I return to my drink and food, but after a few minutes, it’s as if he can’t take it anymore, and his mouth comes down by my ear.

“If you were mine, Cinderella, I’d take you over my knee and spank your beautiful ass red for intentionally being a brat and disobeying me.”

I gasp only to bite into my lip to hide it. As it is, my pulse skyrockets, and my core floods with heat and wetness.

“Now be a good girl for once and let me drive you home so I know you’re safe,” he rasps against my ear, his hot breath making me shudder and my eyes momentarily close.

I can’t. Not after that. Not with him asking me to be a good girl and telling me he’ll spank me otherwise. Every cell of my body is wired to hate that. The strong, assertive,I’ve been through hell with men trying to take my control from mewomanhatesthat.

Yet, inexplicably, I want him to spank me while I squirm and whimper and beg.

I want him to have me over his strong thighs and slip his hand up my dress to feel how wet he just made me. I want him to make me feel safe and coveted andowned.

What. The. Fuck?

“Let me out.” I start to shove at him. I have to go. Now.

Dutifully, he slips out of the booth. I hear him say something to Alden and Keegan about how he’s going to drive me home, but I don’t wait on him, and I don’t say goodbye. I race for the bathroom, and once the door is shut behind me, I order my Uber. There’s no way in hell I’m letting Jack Kincaid drive me home. Not after that.

But worse, I have no idea how I’m going to face him again.

13

Ihadn’t planned on going out. Not really. The notion of going to get laid was there and it was tempting, but it required effort and energy, both of which I was lacking by the time I left work. That was until Alden called. I haven’t seen him in a while, both of us busy and working on opposite sides of town. It was an easy excuse not to be home alone tonight, one I was grateful for, and I didn’t think twice about telling him I’d meet him for dinner.

I needed to clear my head. I needed to get her out of my head.

But then she was there. Because she’salwaysthere. I couldn’t escape her, and the moment I saw her in that tiny, nothing of a dress with a drink in front of her and every man’s eyes glued to her body, it was as if fate were throwing me a big, fat middle finger. Alden was overjoyed. The guy has always had a thing for Keegan and saw this as an opportunity to rekindle what they once had.

For me, it was hell.

Her body tucked in that small booth next to mine. The feel of her pressed against me. The stubborn, prideful, defiantlook in her eyes that never fails to make my blood thrum with heat. And when she told me she wasn’t going to let me drive her home, I lost it a bit. I told her what I’d do to her if she were mine—something she’ll never be—and I listened to her sharp intake of breath. Felt her body shudder ever so slightly.

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