Page 88 of Drop Shot
“What are you doing here?” I turn to face Elias, my hand landing on his stomach. It’s hard beneath the gauzy white fabric of his button-down shirt. “I figured you were going back to the apartment to rest.”
“I should have.” He brings me even closer and a startled gasp flies out of me. “But I couldn’t stand the thought of you in a club with other men looking at you.”
My heart jolts. “Are you jealous?”
He lowers his head until his lips are right at my ear. “You have no fucking idea, Whimsy. I wanted to punch that guy just for talking to you and there was a whole table between you.”
I laugh, pushing at his chest lightly so he’ll move back and give me space to breathe properly. When he’s that close I lose all sense of focus. “Be serious.”
His gaze his steady on me. “I am being serious.”
I shake my head. “What is going on?”
He cups my cheek, leaning in again. “What’s going on, is I know this is fake, but for some fucking reason you have me all tied up in knots.”
He pulls away and stares me down. His tongue slips out, moistening his lips.
“Me?” I ask stupidly.
His body shakes with laughter I can’t hear. “Yes, you.”
“But why?” I blurt.
“I don’t know,” he answers honestly. His fingers graze my cheek.
I’m baffled. Elias hasn’t spared me a second glance in the years I’ve been his assistant and essentially run his life. We’ve always been strictly professional—except for my crush I don’t dare to admit to, at least not yet.
His confession feels sudden, but at the same time, if I’m honest with myself, he has been looking at me differently. With a want and desire that can’t be faked.
But this is Elias—he’s always had a different girl on his arm. He’s never dated just one girl in the time I’ve known him and I … I can’t be another girl discarded by him. I know myself, and my heart couldn’t take it.
He must sense me shutting down, because he says, “Forget I said anything. Let’s dance.”
“Are you sure? I’m fine to just stand here.”
He holds his hand out to me, fingers wiggling. “I came all the way here. Dance with me, Whim. Please?”
Crap.
I can’t resist him when he gives me the puppy dog eyes.
Sliding my hand into his, I let him guide me onto the dancefloor. It’s warmer here from all the bodies. Elias turns me around so my back is to his front, his hands firm on my hips. My heart skips a beat at the touch.
“Come on, Clever Girl,” he murmurs against my ear. “Let’s show them what we’ve got.”
Despite my racing heart, I close my eyes and let go. My hips move to the music, further guided by his hands. I reach up behind me, twining an arm around his neck.
I swear I hear him say, “You smell so good.” But the music is loud, and people are singing along so I convince myself I imagined it.
One song bleeds into another. I find myself closing my eyes and letting my body flow to the beat of the music. His fingers slide lower, past my hips to find the hem of my skirt. I gasp at the feel of his fingers on my thighs. He drags them slightly beneath the hem, fingers rubbing in slow, smooth circles.
“Elias.” His name is a breathy gasp. I doubt he even hears it.
My thoughts are a tangled, jumbled mess. I’ve had to lock my stupid crush away for fear of it messing up what we’re trying to accomplish here. But then he shows up here telling me that I’m the one that has him tangled in knots.
His lips graze my neck and I lean my head back against his chest, slowly blinking my eyes open to find him watching me with a half-lidded expression.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him what he’s thinking, but I’m scared I don’t want to know the answer.
