Page 48 of Resisting Temptation

He chuckles lightheartedly. “Can’t say I heard it yet, but I’ll be sure to shut her down if she tries. For what it’s worth, you would make a killing on there.”

“I wasn't interested in knowing about your computer-related escapades,” I mutter, shaking my head.

He laughs at me. “I don’t use it. I’m just saying.”

Before I see him, I can already make out his laugh through the crowd. Is he joking? He’s crashing our event! My fists clench into balls. Breathe, Paisley, just breathe, I tell myself. But I can’t, he’s so infuriating.

“Don’t let him get to you so much.” Beckett rubs my arm, trying to calm me. “Use all that hate to help me beat him.” He winks cheekily, but this isn’t funny. Noah’s wearing me down. Every time I see him, I fall a little harder under his charming spell. And he knows it.

“Why is he here?” I groan, not feeling up to dealing with him today.

“Because he wants you. He’s probably stalking your socials.” He laughs like he’s joking, and I slap his arm for it.

But he might not be that far from the truth. My eyes go wide as I realize that’s exactly what Noah’s been doing. How else is he everywhere I am? I pull out my phone and check my Instagram feed. Sure enough, every post I have put up over the last few weeks are the locations he’s turned up at not long after. He isstalking my socials. I don’t let on to Beckett, but I’m fuming mad about it. How dare he follow me everywhere I go.

“Better get back to my adoring people,” he says, and I follow him back around the front of the building reluctantly, taking my station with a bottle of maple syrup.

Noah makes it to the front of the queue, and one of the volunteers hands him a plate stacked with pancakes.

“Thanks, darlin’,” he says, all charming, and the young girl blushes. But his attention comes to me, and tension swirls in the air between us, so thick I could cut it with the little plastic knife in front of me. My heart races as our eyes lock. I’m so in love with him it physically hurts to be so close. How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

Tears prickle in my eyes. Why is he doing this to me? I turn away and head for the kitchen inside town hall. I’m unable to cope with him today. I keep telling myself not to let him get to me, but he’s making it impossible. He’s so gorgeous, and when he’s right there in my face all the time, it makes it almost impossible to stop from throwing myself at him. For three years I have done everything I could to get over him. Tossed myself at any guy who would give me a scrap of attention just to fill the empty void deep inside me, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they could be the one to break the spell Noah cast on me that summer. The devastating hold he left when he disappeared on me. And it’s worse now than ever before. My heart beats for him, and it’s killing me slowly. He’s the only man who can give me what I need, and he damn well knows it. My body comes alive with him. But I can’t go back there. I just can’t. I hide out in the kitchen, busying myself sorting merchandise into piles and cleaning up the mess we made last night.

“What a brilliant idea. Breakfast with the wonderful people of our town. You don’t mind if I crash your event and do a littleshmoozing, do you?” His voice comes from behind me. Should have known he would follow me back here, like the stalker he is.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, trying to compose myself before I open my mouth. Turning slowly, I find him leaning against the doorway casually and wonder how long he was watching me before he said anything. “What you do is none of my business, Noah,” I mutter, trying to act distracted with some hats. But I’m not distracted. All I can think about is him. I want him to save me from my loneliness, but I can’t bear the thought of him leaving me again. I wouldn’t survive it this time.

“But what you do is mine,” he says, his voice low and menacing. What the hell does he even mean by that?

My eyes meet him in a deathly stare. “Are you spying on my socials, Noah?” I just throw it out there, sick of it.

He shrugs. “So what if I am? I told you I’m not going to let this go, Paisley.”

Oh my God. He’s not even going to try and deny it. My glare intensifies. “That’s really messed up. You have a problem, you know.” He looks me over, not fazed by my hate toward him. I’m not going to get anywhere with him. He’s impossible. I go to pass him, just needing to be as far away from him as possible.

But he takes my arm, stopping me. “Do I?” He stares at me, heating me up under his intensity.

“Yes,” I whisper, losing my edge when he’s so close.

He pushes me back in the room and closes the door behind us. “I don’t see a problem here. You’re enjoying this little game as much as I am. You want me to chase you, it turns you on.” He runs his hungry eyes down my body, eating me up. A pool of moisture coats my panties. He can’t look at me like he’s starving and I’m the only one who can feed him. He just can’t. I swallow the lump in my throat, trying to find words.

“Don’t you, baby?” His lips turn up at the sides. He knows he has me.

My heart hammers out of control. My pussy throbs with desperate need for him to fill her up. He could make me feel so fulfilled in every way, and that is very dangerous. It’s why I need to run the hell away.

He cups my face so delicately, like he’s afraid of hurting me. The pads of his fingers ever so lightly dusting over my jaw, then down my neck, he keeps going over my arm then settles on my waist where he pulls me toward him more aggressively, nearly knocking the air from my lungs. Our bodies are so close I can feel how hard he is for me, his thick cock straining against his suit pants. “If you don’t want this, Paisley, just say so and I will walk away.”

I’m struggling to breathe, sucking in labored breaths, hoping to clear the brain fog before it’s too late, but my attempts are futile—I’m craving him like never before, and he knows it. I wet my lips. Suddenly they feel impossibly dry. His piercing eyes dart right to them, then without warning, he drops his head, claiming me.

His kiss is desperate and greedy, but it lights me up inside, a warmth that spreads right through me like sunshine on a winter’s day. This is what I’ve been missing in my life. His hand slides down to my ass, pulling me into him harder. His leg slides between my thighs, parting them, and he pulls me up his body so I’m straddling his thigh. As he kisses me, I rock over it, wanting to ease the ache between my legs. We make out like horny teenagers, tongues and lips battling. His hands are everywhere, roaming over my curves, tugging at my hair, and my frantic body liquifies for him. I want to rip the shirt from his chest so I can really feel him. I want him to throw me over the counter so he can fuck me until I don’t feel so empty anymore.

I’m so lightheaded my head spins, and I grip the wall behind me for stability. What am I doing? My hands move to his chest, and I shove him back, suddenly desperate for space. “Noah. Ican’t. We can’t,” I mutter, trying to form a sentence that makes sense. “I’m working. And you’re our competition.” I state the obvious, feeling like a terrible employee. Beckett has been so kind to me, and I repay him by making out with his enemy. But the tension between us is just too much, I couldn’t resist it.

“Stop pushing me away, Pais.” His eyes plead with me to give in to him, but I know he won’t push anything with me I’m not totally up for. He might be acting like an obsessed stalker, but he would never force me into anything I’m not comfortable with. He knows my limits, and even though it’s obviously killing him to back off, he does.

“What happened between you and my daddy yesterday?” I ask, not sure if I really want the answer.

He takes another step away from me then runs his fingers over my hand, shoving up the long-sleeve shirt I have worn to cover my bruises. “I saw what he did to you and decided it was the last time he would lay a finger on one of his children. My only regret is not doing something about it sooner.” His sad eyes meet mine, and I see the depth of his despair. I know he cares about me and Parker, that much is obvious. And it melts my hatred toward him. We have so much history, all of us. Maybe that’s why this is so impossible. He’s ingrained into my past. But then I think about what he said and realize for him to know my father hurt me yesterday means he was there and saw it.

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