Page 27 of Undeniable Temptation

She balked, in complete shock that he’d be stupid enough to keep slinging fighting words at her.

“You’re the one everyone is worried about.” He glared. “You’re the one who fucked up, Leah. Not Ryan.”

He wasn’t joking… But he had to be, otherwise she was going to hurt him. Permanently. “Watch where you go with this, Mason. I’ve taken enough of your bullshit already.”

“Noted.” He inclined his head and turned to walk away.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Her voice rose. “We’re not done.”

He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. “No, we’re not. But now’s not the time. Pull your shit together and we’ll talk about this another day.”

Pull her shit together? Her hands shook, her face heated. How dare he accuse her of not succeeding in something she’d worked too damn hard on, for too damn long?

Every day she pulled her shit together. Every fucking minute she had to gather strings and ribbons into a massive bundle to maintain the professional façade they all thought came naturally. They didn’t understand the difficulty in shoving down emotions that refused to be silenced. They didn’t know how badly she wanted to go back to a devastating kiss she should’ve forgotten the moment it ended. A devastating kiss that resembled bliss in hindsight. Because that kiss, no matter how disturbing and punishing, had been sublime perfection. Even if she couldn’t have it again.

Fuck. Mason was right.

She’d completely lost her shit.

“Hey,” Ryan shouted as he jumped off the stage.

She remained quiet with his approach while Mason stared her down, warning her to keep her mouth shut.

“What’s going on?” Ryan wiped his wrist over the sweat on his brow.

“Nothin’.” She held Mason’s gaze. “My friend here was merely playing his favored asshole role. You’d think he’d be sick of it by now.”

“And you’d think you’d be sick of standing in the wings after all this time, but clearly we enjoy what we’re good at.” Mason backtracked, giving her a checkmate smirk as he fled.

Asshole.

“Are you two fighting again?”

She closed her eyes briefly, the hit of his voice punching harder than normal. “Yes. Again.”

It seemed her years had been built on the foundation of battle. She was either fighting with Mason, Grander, her boss, the tabloids, the obsessed trolling fans, or her love for him. Always her love for him.

“What’s it about this time?”

You.She met his gaze and held her breath.We’re fighting over you.“Nothing important.”

“OK…” His brows narrowed, the slightest wrinkle forging its way between those beautiful eyes. “What’s been going on with you? I haven’t seen you in days.”

“I’ve been busy tracking your success. Your dates with Felicity are gaining favorable attention.” She wanted to fist pump for keeping her animosity in check. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” His frown deepened, his scrutiny keeping her pinned. “We’re trying to make sure we’re seen as much as possible.”

“You’re doing a great job.” The Internet was currently smothered with images of his puppy-dog eyes and needy hands. Even her Facebook sidebar taunted her with ads containing his bearded face.

“Not everyone would agree. Hannah still has a problem with the project. She’s not being openly aggressive, but her annoyance is there whenever we step into the spotlight.”

“Jealousy?” Leah sure knew how that felt.

He nodded. “Maybe. And I don’t blame her. Me and the guys know how it feels to be in Mason’s shadow. It’s part of the job.” He jerked his head toward one of the exits. “Do you want to chat about this at the hotel? I need to get out of here.”

No. She didn’t want to be in a confined car smothered by his scent. She could barely look at him without being distracted by his beautiful lips, or the misery of knowing he’d paid homage to someone else with them.

Christ, she hated when Mason was right.

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