Page 28 of Reckless Temptation

All the fury, all the aggravation. It burst out of me in a swift strike that was so uncharacteristic of me that I bet it stunned me more than him.

So much for avoiding and ignoring.

I’d never hit anyone, not once in my whole life. Slapping him felt justified, but also so wrong somehow. Like it cheapened me to stoop to a baser level of fighting back at all.

His eyes darkened, the deep brown almost black as he furrowed his brow. This intense stare bore through me, piercing me as he breathed harshly through his nose.

He couldn’t have counted on my doing that. I’d surprised us both, but I wondered if I’d just poked the beast and angered him more.

“Oh, um, sorry.” The assistant had returned.

Nick turned, revealing her behind him.

Crap.She had to have seen me slap him, and that wasnotthe cool, professional demeanor I wanted to project. Especially not to someone connected to my project.

“Sorry to interrupt.” The woman grimaced, clearly uncomfortable to be near this drama.

“Hey, no worries.” Nick chuckled, draping his arm around my shoulders as he rubbed his cheek where I’d hit him. “It’s nothing.” He tugged me closer in a quick side hug. “Just a lovers’ spat.”

“What?” I dodged his touch, as if he were infectious with his body heat, tempting me to stay with him. “No. Not a lovers’… He’s not… I’m not…”

She winced, looking aside.

“He’s not my lover, and that was…” I stepped away from Nick again and cleared my throat, focusing on her. “He’s just someone from school. Playing a joke. Nothing more.”

Just an asshole from school who wanted to frame me as a participant in a wet T-shirt contest and then call me a slut. Like that wassooriginal.

Walking this woman further away from Nick, I shot him a glare over my shoulder.

Don’t mess with me.

I wished I could issue that warning out loud.

But maybe my dark glower would be just as effective.

Even if he didn’t get the message, he wouldn’t succeed. So, he’d pushed me to snap and retaliate that one time just now. But that didn’t mean he would get to me a second time.

I vowed, again, to steer clear of him and stay focused. I had to concentrate on my studies, on getting that internship, and on graduating to start the rest of my life.

I had no time to let him play games with me and interfere.

He hadn’t cut back on the bullying and teasing when I consistently ignored him, and I doubted my slapping him would result in anything different. Yet, that was far preferred to hitting him or fighting back at all. Because now that he’d pushed my buttons and made me snap, I had a hard time reining in this need to respond in kind and give as good as I got.

Especially when he glared at me with a challenge in his hot gaze, tempting me to be reckless with him just a little longer.

10

NICK

For the next week and a half, I chased that thrill. When Sabrina slapped me, she shocked me. I didn’t think she had it in her to fight back. She was so good at ignoring me and how I bullied her that I figured she’d never crack.

Getting a reaction out of her was the ultimate high. I felt alive. I was there, present with her, not lost and wallowing in restlessness.

Every day since then, I tried to replicate that sensation of excitement. Pushing Sabrina so far that she’d snap like that to slap me made me want to see how much further I could test her. How much more it would take to get another rise out of her.

But I hadn’t.

She had some damn nerves of steel or something else formidable because she didn’t react again.

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