Page 39 of Go Deep

And a fucking waste of time.

I suck in a breath.

For all I know, it might be borrowed time, anyway.

I’m not gonna spend one more second thinking about the guy. I am?—

I slam my hands against the heavy wooden door and push it open.

Vince has his hands on both sides of the sink, his hair slicked back. Tiny droplets of water cling to the dark strands, and his skin glows pink.

Finished.

He looks into the mirror. His jaw tightens when our eyes meet. Slowly, he turns to face me, each hair of a second making my heart pump faster and harder until it’s damn-near ready to explode.

We stand there, staring at each other. Conflict clouds my mind, anger stewing in my gut.

But none of it stops the thick haze of lust from swirling in the air around us. It grabs control of my body — every tingle, every spark, every unspoken word in the depths of his dark eyes torments me more and more as the terse silence deafens me.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he says, his voice low and gruff.

My heart jumps into my throat, cutting off my ability to breathe.

“You’re an important client. I’m sorry about what happened the other night.”

And just as quickly as my heart floated onto Cloud Nine, it nose-dives straight into my shoes in as much time.

I shrug, trying to ignore the sting of rejection. “I’m used to narrow-minded assholes.”

Vince takes a step toward me. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of treatment. And I didn’t tell him to fuck off, which was wrong.”

“I get it. He donates to your father’s campaign. We barely know each other. I don’t expect you to put everything on the line to make sure I’m comfortable. I’ve had to handle plenty worse than him.”

The tension thickens to the point where dragging in a breath is painful. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle, a thin stream of sweat drizzling down my spine under the heat of his stare.

“He invests in my business, too. But I just told him I’m paying him out. I don’t want him involved in anymore.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because money isn’t as important to me as my dignity. Fuck him if he thinks he can treat people like shit and get away with it. I don’t need him.”

“Will he pull his donations from your dad’s campaign?”

My body is keenly aware of Vince moving closer still. A whiff of his spicy cologne wafts under my nose, blurring all sane thought. My fingers itch to graze his chiseled jaw, to trace over the scar in the corner of his upper lip, to slide over his smooth bronze skin.

“I don’t fucking care.”

His gravelly voice hums into my ears, the vibrationsrippling through me like a smooth, flat stone skipping along a calm lake.

He puts his hands on my shoulders, his deep-set eyes flickering with something that looks a hell of a lot like desire. “Let me help you.”

My jaw drops.

Fuckme.

“Give me a chance to make it up to you. I’ll fix your portfolio.”

“What will your girlfriend say about that?” I blurt out the words because I’m so confused by what’s happening between us right now. This is not my imagination. It can’t be.

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