Page 24 of Hold Me Closer
I guess the only way to find out is to ask him.
I swipe to his number, my finger hovering over the dial button.
The door opens behind me, the roar of the reporters camped outside rolling into the studio in a wave.
"Jesus Christ," Teo mutters.
I whip around so fast I topple over backward.
I land on my back, staring up at him.
"Well," he says, his lips twitching as he stares down at me, those piercing blue eyes locked on my face. Even upside down, he looks damn good with a scruffy jaw and his hair all wild. "This is not what I envisioned when I imagined you in a recording studio, butterfly."
"You," I manage to stutter.
"Me," he confirms, that damn smirk growing. He leans down, holding a hand out to me to help me up, but I quickly roll to the side, scrambling to my feet about as gracefully as a freaking panda.
I slap hair out of my face, scowling when he chuckles, clearly amused at the free show I'm giving him, the big jerk. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to see you. Is that a crime?"
"Should be."
"So you're still mad, I take it?"
Still mad? Is he kidding right now?
"You kissed me in a freaking parking lot, Mateo," I growl.
"Is this a bad time to remind you that you kissed me back?"
I stomp on his foot. Hard.
He just chuckles. "That's one, butterfly."
I don't ask why he's counting. I don't even want to know. Instead, I poke him in his ridiculously hard chest.
"Two," he murmurs.
"And then when the photos leaked, you told the paparazzi that we're dating," I snap. "Have you lost your freaking mind?"
"Baby, I lost it six goddamn years ago."
I growl and poke him again.
"And that's three," he says ominously.
Someone his size really should not be able to move as fast as he does. Before I can even tell him to stop counting—or congratulate him for knowing how—he has me backed up against the wall, his body pressed to mine.
"Let me go," I whisper, my heart thundering against my ribcage.
"Not until you kiss me and say sorry."
"I'm not kissi–"
He cuts me off, slanting his mouth down over mine. And even though I'm determined not to kiss him again, as soon as I feel his lips on mine, my resolve evaporates. His tongue touches mine, stealing what little sanity I have, and my hands fist in his hair, anchoring him to me.
He consumes me with his kiss again, drinking from my lips like I'm the best thing he's ever tasted. The way he growls as he licks into my mouth has my core clenching.
