Page 55 of Stuck with the Grump

“We need to talk,” he said, releasing my hair and running his hand down my spine. “You’ve been ignoring all of my calls and there’s something that doesn’t sit right about that.”

“We agreed to end it, Clarke.”

He sighed and let his hand rest on my hip, sending my nerves tingling from his touch. I ran a hand through my hair, the haze from the alcohol burning away as I took my keys from my purse and walked up the steps, away from him.

“I want to talk about changing that agreement,” he said, following me up the stairs.

“You don’t mean it, you’re drunk and I think you need to sleep this off.”

Clarke was quiet as he followed me to the apartment. He waited until I had led him to my room and closed the door before he kicked off his shoes.

“You look beautiful,” he said, walking closer to me as I dumped my purse on my dresser. The way he looked at me sent shivers down my spine.

“Oh, Clarke,” I said, closing the distance between us and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. There was no point in resisting him anymore. I couldn’t. Not when he was standing right in front of me. I would give myself one moment of weakness and then I would return to the original plan of moving on.

He caught me around the waist, his lips descending on mine. We kissed, our mouths moving together in a dance we had practiced many times. His hands drifted over my body and everywhere he touched ignited. Heat pooled in my core as he turned us and pinned me against the wall, his thigh pressing between my legs.

Clarke’s mouth moved from my lips to my neck, nipping and sucking at the soft skin. My hands roamed under his shirt, feeling his muscled stomach before trailing lower to run around the waistband of his jeans. My fingers dipped below his waistband, my nails skimming the sensitive skin there. Clarke groaned, pressing harder against me.

It was only when I felt his cock straining against his jeans that I put both hands on his chest and pushed him away. This was wrong and I needed to be the sensible one, for both of us.

Clarke’s chest heaved as he looked at me, a slow smile spreading across his face. “I knew that we weren’t over.”

“Clarke, we can talk about this in the morning. Just get in bed and sleep it off.”

Before he could say anything else, I fled to the bathroom, needing to put some distance between us. My heart hammered in my chest as I braced myself on the counter and glared at my reflection.

That was stupid.

But it had felt right. All the days and obstacles between us seemed to melt away the moment I was in his arms.

Tomorrow, when we talked, I would be sure to keep my distance from him.

I couldn’t risk being pulled back in only to have my heart broken.

When Clarke walked into the living room the next morning, he was pale and his cheeks were hollow, but he didn’t still reek of alcohol. His eyes were bright and he looked alert as he dropped into one of the plush chairs beside the couch.

“I’m sorry for showing up here like that. It was out of line. I was drunk and missing you. Then I thought about how I had royally fucked that up, so I decided drinking more before coming to grovel would be a good idea.”

“And how’s that working out for you right now?” I asked, crossing one leg over the other.

“I’m not sure, yet,” Clarke said, his voice firm as he looked at me. “But, I’m trying. I meant everything I said last night, even if I was drunk.”

“Clarke,” I said, drumming my fingers on my thigh. “We agreed that this was done. We said that this was over.”

“I know what we said.”

“And when you stop being lonely, you’ll know that this was for the best. You and I, it’s never going to work. Never. It can’t work.”

“Care to explain that one to me?” he asked. “How the hell can you say that this is never going to work when it was working just fine at the lake house?”

I got to my feet and started pacing, agitation building as I looked at him. “That was the lake house, Clarke! Of course, it was working there. I was your little secret there and you were mine! We don’t work out in the real world. News people and cameramen could have followed you here last night! What kind of headlines would we see tomorrow? Billionaire Clarke Wesley drunk with his much younger bimbo.”

His face flushed as he got to his feet, placing himself directly in my pacing path. “Leigh, I already apologized for the photos from before. If anything new comes up I’ll have everything buried, I can pull strings and make it happen.”

“But that isn’t all that this is about!” I shouted, my voice filling the room as the panic washed over me in waves. I was confused at best and still hurting.

“Then what is it about? Enlighten me!”

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