Page 40 of Heartbeats and Hashtags
“Now wait just a minute,” I snap, “Youdo notget to judge my personal life?—”
“When it affects your safety, it becomes my business,” Cole interrupts sharply.
We stare each other down. I force myself to take a calming breath.
“If you'd let me explain...he's no one. Just someone Tanya is unfortunately involved with that we had to hide from her father.”
Cole stares blankly, a muscle in his neck twitching.
“Mr. Park is notorious for scaring off all of Tanya 's boyfriends. He's been intimidating them since like…the sixth grade. So she panicked when she saw him walk in and asked me to help.”
I watch the truth slowly soften the hard lines on Cole's face.
“Oh, I see. Well,actually, that makes a lot of sense.” He clears his throat, and his ears tinge red. “My apologies for the assumptions,” he says, leaning casually on the wall as though he didn’t just shout at me for no reason. “I should have let you clarify first.”
Now it's my turn to go on offense. I cross my arms, leveling him with a knowing look.
“You seemed awfully worked up over presumed competition...” I circle slowly, my voice dripping faux-innocence. “One might even say...jealous.”
I watch him stiffen, a hint of a smirk playing on my lips. Cole schools his features quickly but the flash of something in his eyes thrills me.
“Jealousy implies personal investment beyond professional bounds,” he states, now backing into the wall.
“Oh I agree, strictly professional.” I nod along. My pointer finger trails feather-light across his shoulders as I brush past him. “But is professional questioning so very...thorough?”
A visible swallow.
Cole's eyes widen fractionally before he recovers. “Absolutely not. I was merely concerned about an unknown security variable from a protocol perspective.”
I hum skeptically, enjoying myself far too much. “Uh huh, sure. Just admit it — you were jealous.” I poke his toned chest playfully.
He scoffs, “I am not jealous.”
“Green really isn't your color, Cole.” I toss him a wink, turning, pause, and turn back, “though it is the color of your pretty alien eyes.” I saunter into the kitchen, adrenaline surging.
Strong hands suddenly grip my waist at the cupboard, pressing me to the wall. Panic rises as I'm pinned helpless...then Cole's woodsy scent washes over me.
Every nerve ending sparks alive where his muscular form anchors mine in place. I try turning to face him, but his grip holds me. Craning my neck, I meet his darkened gaze.
“You seem to have some misconceptions about my ability to maintain professional boundaries, Miss Everly,” Cole rumbles, lips at my ear. His warm breath makes me shiver. “Perhaps ademonstrationof my self-control is in order?”Oh God.
He presses his front against my back, hard. Blood rushes around my body as his firm grip on my wrists tightened. I wriggle to try to turn around, but he holds me tighter. I turn my head to look at him again.
My breath hitches as I gaze into his face, searching for some indication of what this means. He makes a low growl as he draws his gaze up my body slowly, taking in every inch of me. His breath, hot and heavy as it brushes against my face, feels like it'sburningme.Maybe dying by fire wouldn’t be so bad.His green eyes, almost black with intensity, seem to pierce me.
“You think you can walk away from me after insulting me…Little Rose?” he rasps in my ear.
Part of me wants to try harder and break away from his hold, while another part of me wants to stay and lean into him. I feel both my fear and my desire growing with every passing second. And if the large, hard rod pressing against my butt is anything to go by, so does his.
I open my mouth to try to speak, but I am paralyzed. I am speechless,for once.
“No sassy comment – huh?” he whispers close into my ear. I feel blood rushing between my legs aching for him, and I wriggle my butt a little to provoke him.
He growls again and pins his hips tighter against me so I can't move at all.
My skin tingles where our skin touches. Gently, he twists me around so that I'm facing him. My chest moves with a heavy breath, and he examines me. I can tell his mind running fast with indecision.
He moves closer, and I lean up to meet him. I flutter my eyes shut as he brushes his lips against mine. I wait,wanting more,wanting to feel his touch. Suddenly, Cole pulls back, his grip still firm on my wrists, but the air feels cold, and I feel…underwhelmed. I needmore. I need all of him.
