Page 21 of Heart Set on You

I feel my cheeks flush. “I should go,” I tell him.

He whispers my name and laughs. The way he says it makes me feel like I’m seeing stars. “You’re not going anywhere without me. I’ll take you back to your hotel. Give me a second to call my driver.”

I open my mouth to protest, but the look on his face makes it clear there is no point in arguing. His phone is already against his ear.

I swallow my smile. Miles is here, with me, standing under a streetlight and looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world that he wants. The only way this can end is with me being broken into a million tiny pieces. Everything about him – his charm, his smile, his lifestyle – has the power to ruin me, and I doubt there’s a thing I can do about it.

Against my better judgment, I take his hand when he offers it and I get into the car beside him.

I text Abby to let her know that I left the restaurant, then look out the window at the blur of flashing lights and passing cars against the jet-black sky. Anything to distract me from Miles and how delicious he smells. I want to bathe in his scent, wash my bed sheets in it, bottle it up and make millions.

I don’t know where this is going, but I am certain that Miles Bennett could be my demise.

Chapter Nine

Miles

My eyes found her as soon as I walked into the room. Rylee. I couldn’t stop staring at her, the curve of her shoulders, the slim band of skin exposed at her midriff whenever she raised her arms a little too high. Wearing a skirt and tank top, she was sexier than any other woman in the place. Certainly sexier than Violet in her barely-there black dress.

Halfway through Jared’s party, I couldn’t take it anymore. Being in the same room with Rylee but not being able to touch her felt like torture. As the party went on, the spark she lit in me grew into a flame. I had been half-hard, for Christ’s sake, all night long. Just from looking at her.

I’d behaved myself long enough. Hell, I should have been awarded some kind of trophy for not pulling her into me in front of everyone at the party and kissing her senseless.

And then finding her outside, alone and upset over the stunt Violet pulled, only made me want to convince her that it was her that captivated me, that it would never be a girl like Violet.

Now, standing in front of her hotel room door, I kiss her goodnight. As much as I want to come in and strip her naked on top of her bed, I’m not going to. She’s nervous, she’s built up walls so high around her heart to protect it. I know I can’t rush things. Besides, anticipation is everything. I want her as worked up as I am right now. I want her going to bed and thinking of me.

With self-control I had no idea I possessed I break the kiss. Her vivid green eyes are wide and doe-like, filling me with want. Rylee blinks up at me, her lips parted from the best kiss I’ve experienced in my life. She’s watching me, her eyes blazing, waiting to see what happens next.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” I whisper, kissing the side of her jaw. Her hair smells like mangos. Fuck. I really don’t want to leave her.

“That excited for work, huh?” she teases. Her lips tip up in a small smile and it takes me aback how good her smile makes me feel.

“Excited to see you.”

She draws her bottom lip in between her teeth while her eyes do a sweep of me. She wants me just as bad as I want her. I can tell. She’s not even trying to hide it. But a goodnight kiss is going to have to do.

“Goodnight, Miles.”

She gives me a slow smile and opens the door, stepping inside. I watch it shut behind her then walk away, trying to shake that kiss and everything I am imagining doing to her from my mind. I might be both exhausted and sexually frustrated, but it’s clear how much I want her.

That in itself should be terrifying.

It’s not.

* * *

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me today in that skirt?” I whisper into her ear.

She stiffens. She doesn’t turn to face me, but I know that she heard me when she sucks in a deep breath of air. She keeps her face down, pointed towards the iPad that she carries around everywhere she goes.

I have her cornered just outside of craft services, careful no one is around to see us. From where I’m standing behind her, the scent of her perfume invades my senses. It smells like coconut, a hint of something fruity. She smells like the beach.

I can only see Rylee from the back but it’s enough to know she looks hotter than hell and I have to remind myself that she’s not yet mine to touch whenever I want. Her hair is down today, the tips of her dark strands brushing against the shoulders of her white blouse. The skirt looks like it was made just for her, the way her slim hips and her ass fill out the fabric. Her long, tan legs taunt me. I wonder if she’s left two buttons undone or three. I’m dying to find out.

That feeling I always get whenever I see Rylee invades my chest. It tightens and my heart leaps, threatening to burst from my ribcage. My dick twitches behind the zipper of my jeans, and I haven’t even seen the front of her yet.

She finally turns around to face me. Two buttons, not three. I wish she’d undo one more so I could see what she’s wearing underneath it. She notices my line of vision is directed squarely on her chest.

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