Page 22 of Lust Hate Love (Fallen Angel 4)

It was beyond irritating, not to mention frustrating, because even though I was actively trying to avoid him, every single part of me wanted to get closer. I am weak.

As the boat sped through the water, I tried my hardest not to show I was white-knuckling the railing in front of me, trusting that Killian wouldn’t put his or my life in danger, but of course he drove like a bat out of hell.

Like any self-respecting rock star, Killian liked to work hard and play even harder. It was something I’d been more than aware of when I signed on as their manager. He was single and liked to mingle—a lot. But I had to admit, over the past several months, any playing Killian had done must’ve taken place on the down-low, because I hadn’t heard anything when it came to his…extracurricular escapades, and thank God for that.

Sneaking a look over my shoulder, I let my shaded eyes trail down Killian’s loose white button-up, to his navy board shorts, tanned, muscled calves, and the flip-flops he’d slipped on to finish off the sexy/casual vibe he had going on.

Ugh. If he wasn’t so damn sexy, ignoring him would be so much easier.

“It feels good out here today, doesn’t it?”

Acting as though I wasn’t just checking him out, I made a point of tilting my face up in Killian’s direction and shrugged. “I suppose. But I could’ve enjoyed the weather just as easily from my balcony.”

Killian snorted. “Oh, come on. You can’t tell me your balcony would’ve felt half as good as it does out here. The wind, the sun, the surf… Not to mention these spectacular views.”

He had a point. The views out here were pretty spectacular, and so was my captain.

No. No, no. You are not going there. Squash that thought right now.

“The views are pretty hard to beat.”

Killian tipped his sunglasses down, his blue eyes sweeping over me. “I couldn’t agree more.”

I scoffed. “Just can’t help yourself, can you?” When Killian arched a brow, I added, “The flirting. The teasing. It comes so easy to you. Almost as easy as breathing.”

As I went to turn away, Killian said, “No. Uh ah. You don’t get to do that here. You want to have a go at me, then come on. No one else is here. Bring it on.”

I wasn’t sure why, but Killian’s irritated tone had my temper rising. I hadn’t meant to start a fight with him. In fact, I’d meant to ignore him for as long as I possibly could. But now that he’d thrown down the gauntlet, the hell if I was about to back down.

“All right,” I said, getting to my feet and half shuffling, half stumbling to where he stood. I gripped one of the rails by the wheel and windshield protecting the controls and let him have it.

“To start with, I told you the first time we kissed it could go no further than that, and you”—I jabbed at his arm—“didn’t listen. Instead, you continue to come on to me time after time, and I have been trying to be professional and ignore you. But you are making it very hard.”

As soon as the word left my mouth and Killian’s lips curved, I said, “Don’t even think about making a joke out of that.”

Killian shook his head, innocent as can be, which was not innocent at all. So before he could open his mouth and distract me, I continued.

“Second.” I held my middle finger up next to my pointer. “Just when I had everything worked out, compartmentalized, you were in your lane and I was in mine, we get to Australia and you had to go and drop your damn robe, showing all of”—I waved my hand in his general direction—“this off, making it close to impossible to erase it from my fucking mind. And then, as if all of that isn’t bad enough, I had to see you hitting on my brother after you’d rubbed all over me the night before. You. Are the most frustrating human being I have ever met.”

As I stopped to take a breath, I tried to think if there was anything I had missed, and then Killian leaned in close to me and said, “In other words, you’re just as hot for me as I am for you. Hmm, can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for you to admit that.”

My mouth fell open. Of course that was all he’d taken away from what I’d said. “I didn’t admit that.”

As Killian directed the boat into a small bay and slowed, he angled his body to mine and again reached out to finger my shirt, rubbing his fingertip back and forth over the button.

“Yeah, you did. I mean, it’s not like you haven’t already told me. But it’s nice to hear when you’re sober—”

---