Page 43 of In Love and War
“We were finished, so I left. Anything else you need done today you can email me and I’ll work on it from my room.” I crossed my fingers, silently praying that would work.
“Listen to me carefully. You’re going to head up to the twenty-sixth floor andwaitfor me. I’ll be there in ten.” It wasn’t a request.
“And Amelia, I swear to whatever deity you believe in, if you’re not standing by the door when I get there, I will find you and drag you up myself, kicking and screaming if I have to.” He hung up.
My nerves wereall over the place as I waited beside the door to his suite, trying to come up with a game plan. The issue was that I had no idea what he was going to say (the guy wasn’t exactly predictable), so it was hard to think of a strategy.
Fifteen minutes later, he stepped out of the elevator.
“You’re late. Ten minutes my ass.” I glared at him as he started toward me, looking like he was ready to kill.
He grabbed my hand as soon as he was close enough to reach me and pulled me inside the suite, slamming the door behind him. And then, for the second time in two days, I was pushed up with my back against a wall with Zac towering over me. Except this time, his hands went straight into his pockets.
We stood toe to toe, and he leaned in so that his mouth was inches away from mine. My heart was racing so fast I honestly thought it might burst into confetti inside my chest.
“What,exactly,did you mean when you said someone had to finish what I started?” Fury burned in his eyes as they seared into mine.
He was standing so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body, but no part of him was touching me. I put my hands behind my back to resist the itching temptation to reach out and make contact.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory, don’t you think?” I responded, maintaining eye contact.
“What Ithinkis that you enjoy getting a rise out of me.”
“What else is new?” I couldn’t help the small smirk that pinched at the corners of my mouth at the confirmation that I’d gotten to him.
“Why does everything always have to be so…difficultwith you, Amelia?” His lips pursed together in frustration as he noted my amusement.
“Ah yes,I’mthe difficult one betw—”
“Did you sleep with him?” he asked abruptly.
His eyes were piercing into mine, and it was getting harder and harder to think. Or breathe, for that matter.
Is he joking?
“And if I did?” It was also becoming really,reallydifficult to form coherent thoughts.
“Stop toying with me. Did you fuck him or not?” he asked point-blank.
And then I saw something on his face that I wasn’t expecting. He looked a little… hurt. His jaw had tightened, and he stood too still, as if he were holding his breath, while he continued to search my eyes.
“Of course not,” I said, a little offended that he seriously thought I might have actually done it.
Sure enough, he let out a small sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed a little. But for some reason I felt the urge to further clarify. To makesurehe believed me.
“David’s gay,” I blurted. “Your theory is way off…”
A beat of silence.
“Why didn’t you tell me that yesterday?” He seemed a little taken aback by the information but recovered quickly.
“It shouldn’t have mattered,” I defended.
“Do you haveany ideawhat you’ve put me through in the last twenty hours with your little game?” he thundered.
I didn’t respond.
I needed him to give me room to breathe. He was too close. All I could smell was him, and it wasn’t nearly enough. My nails were digging into my hands behind my back as I fought back every last urge and instinct to reach out and touch him. To pull his hands out of his stupid pockets and put them on my body instead.
