Page 10 of Seduction in the Mountains

I cock my head.

She sighs and continues, "I don't do random hook-ups. I'm a relationship girl, and you are..." Scanning me up and down, her eyes linger on my arm muscles. I think she whispers, "Delicious," before she begrudgingly spits out, "Every woman's fantasy."

Instead of feeling smug or pleased, I raise an eyebrow. "But not your fantasy?"

"I didn't say that," she admits.

I smile and reach for her.

Miranda takes a giant step back, pulling another chair between us and raising her hand to stop me. When I freeze, she crosses her arms and repeats, "Just friends."

I pause, hoping desperately she’ll destroy her boundaries as she eyes me with feigned annoyance in an attempt to cover the unmistakable lust in her eyes. The corner of my lip lifts as I assess her freshly fucked hair, remembering the moan she let loose moments ago. I subtly adjust the bulge growing again in my pants.

In all my fantasies about Miranda Collins, I always picture her hair the way it looked the last night we were together. Two braids, one on each side, so long they hung down past her nipples. Those braids starred in my shower fantasies almost every single morning, yet this hair will be what I think about tonight.

I lean over the chair, and she closes her eyes, pulled toward me despite everything she said, like she also feels the magnetic connection between us. My lips are a hairsbreadth from hers when I realize she called me a fuck boy. I pull back abruptly.

Is that what she thinks of me?

Out for a one-night stand? She's the one who ghosted me after our night together in college.

Shit. And I show up, barely talking to her before we fuck against the counter.

Shit, shit, double-fucking shit!

I lean in again and place a chaste kiss on her cheek, encouraged to see a flicker of disappointment before resolution washes over her features. She takes another step back from me.

Putting my hands in my pockets, I also step back. I need her to listen. "I'm not interested in a friends situation with you, with or without benefits, Miranda."

She begins to protest, but I cut her off. "If you think I'm letting you walk away from me, you’re out of your mind. I just moved here, and I hit the jackpot when it comes to my new job. But I’ll tell you right now"—I move the chair out of my way and pull her to me, running my finger down her cheek—"If you run, I will follow you to the ends of the earth until I make you mine." Then I kiss her hard.

As I pull back, her eyes flutter open, and she gazes at me, her lips swollen, her eyes molten with lust.

I lean in again and whisper, "See you tomorrow, little ghost."

The last thing I see out of the corner of my eye as I open the front door is Miranda biting her plump lip. The door chimes behind me, and I stop myself from running back inside and agreeing to have her on any terms she deems acceptable, anything to be near her again.

Instead, I square my shoulders and force myself to stroll past the windows of the coffee shop at a leisurely pace. I reach into my pocket to rub the silky fabric of her panties that she won’t be getting back. She can go commando after pretending she can give me up so easily.

Once I clear the corner, I sprint for my car. I have a date with my shower.

Chapter 6

Miranda

"Followyoutotheends of the earth until I make you mine?" Melody stares at me, her mouth hanging open. "He actually said that to you?"

"He took the garbage out?" Scarlett's honey voice sounds tinny through my phone's speaker.

Ignoring Melody's comment, I respond to Scarlett, leaning toward my phone. "Yes. And cleaned the kitchen."

I look around, worried that Cole has entered the shop and is hearing every word, even though I know exactly where he is. Teaching my little brother in school. Because. He's. His. Teacher.

"Okay, let me get this straight. He helped clean up after defiling the kitchen with the power of his sizeable cock where he delivered multiple orgasms,andhe refused to let you friend-zone him?" Scarlett sighs. "Miranda, what witchy voodoo did you put on your pussy to make him fall so fast and hard?"

"Fast and hard. Is that also how you'd describe his...talents?" Betty, my pseudo-grandmother, mentor, and the woman with the filthiest mind I've ever met, pipes up.

Melody turns to Betty, stifling a giggle.

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