Page 60 of Bitten By Desire
He grabbed my waist and hoisted me up.
I wrapped my legs around him as he deepened the kiss.
But there were nagging thoughts in the back of my head. Or more accurately, Theo’s voice telling me thatBennett was a liar. I put my hand on his chest. “Bennett?”
“Yes?” He smiled against my lips as his fingers skimmed the exposed skin between my jeans and my shirt.
“Do you know Theo Gold?”
He pulled back. “Why would you ask that?”
I just stared at him. His response wasn’t an answer. “It just seems like you don’t like him very much. And I wanted to know why.”
“I told you why. I didn’t like the way he looked at you in that maze.”
“That’s it? There isn’t something else? Because it seems like you both really dislike each other and I don’t understand why.”
He lowered his eyebrows as he stared at me. “What do you mean we both dislike each other? Did you see him again? Did he say something about me?”
Oh shit.I hadn’t been planning on telling him this. I was just going to pretend it never happened. Like Theo was pretending he wasn’t Callum Walsh. And that he didn’t fuck me and forget about me ten years ago.
I cleared my throat. “Zoey and I bumped into him at an open house on Sunday. She’s convinced he’s not Callum Walsh. Because he was definitely wearing brown contacts to try and throw me off. It convinced her, but not me. It’s so obvious he’s hiding something. A lot of somethings probably. But he needs a new photographer for his real estate business and Zoey practically forced me to go for an interview.”
“It was just you and Theo? Alone?”
There was no way he could possible know what had happened on Theo’s desk. But he looked pissed off anyway. “Yeah, but…”
“Why didn’t you call me? You promised not to talk to him again unless I was with you.”
“I know, but Zoey forced me. I didn’t want to go. And I couldn’t exactly have you tag along to an interview.”
“He’s dangerous, Emma. I already told you this.”
“So youdoknow him?”
“No, I just…” He took a step back from me. “I knowofhim.”
I was so confused. “So you have mutual friends or something?”
“No, I definitely wouldn’t say that.”
I slid off the vanity and closed the distance between us. “Then what do you mean? How do you know Theo’s dangerous?”
“I just need you to trust me on this.” He put his hand on the side of my face.
Did I trust him? I barely knew him. And Theo’s words were in the back of my head:“You said you don’t date liars.”
“Please,” Bennett said. “Don’t see him again.”
I didn’t know what to say. Bennett wasn’t answering my questions. Kind of like how Theo didn’t answer any of my questions. What were they hiding?
Bennett was just staring at me. Waiting for me to respond. I didn’t want to ruin today. And I needed to trust my gut. I felt safer around Bennett. Theo terrified me. Bennett was just looking out for me, not manipulating me like Theo was. And I’d already turned down the job with Theo. I slowly nodded my head. I wished Ihadn’t said anything at all. I didn’t want to fight with Bennett.
I hugged him and pressed the side of my face against his chest. His warmth radiated off of him. And I could hear how fast his heart was racing. He was just being protective over me. There was nothing wrong with that.
“Can we just rewind and pretend we never stopped kissing?” I asked.
“Hmm.” He touched the bottom of my chin so I’d look up at him. “Consider it all forgotten.” He kissed me gently this time. With no urgency at all. “I think I promised you a tour of the bank. Although, I’m pretty sure you already saw most of it since I was late.”
