Page 72 of Wood You Rather?

“I did. And if I wasn’t so angry at you for criticizing my investigation and barking orders, I probably would have kissed you back a minute ago too.”

He rubbed his chin and… was that a smirk? “You’re terrible at following instructions.”

I straightened my spine and tilted my chin up. “No one tells me what to do.”

“Hmm. Bratty. Makes me want to punish you.” He quirked a brow.

My legs shook in response. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Because sirens immediately went off in my head.

I climbed off him, standing up and brushing off my leggings. I needed space between us. “We would never work.”

He followed, standing up slowly and never breaking eye contact. “Why not?”

My brain was on overdrive, trying to push down all the feelings that were bubbling up inside me. “Because you drive me insane.” I shouted.

He smirked. “You drive me crazy too.” He ran a hand through his unruly hair. “I wanted to kiss you last night. I’ve been thinking about it for so long, and you were there. I was playing, and I couldn’t keep a lid on all the things I was feeling.”

Huh. That took the wind out of my angry sails really quickly. This was too messy and confusing. I needed clarity. “Who told you to keep a lid on them?” I asked. “Given that we’re fake dating and living together, I think we’re past that. Just be fucking honest with me.”

He looked me dead in the eyes. “Honest? Sure thing. Parker, I’m wildly attracted to you. I spend every minute of every fucking day thinking about you and how badly I want you.”

I took a step back. Shit, I needed distance. I’d asked for honesty, and I’d been hit with a heap of it. My heart pounded against my ribs and blood rushed in my ears. What was he saying? That the kiss hadn’t been a mistake? That there was more here?

Of course there was. Our chemistry was off the freaking charts, but I wasn’t ready to dive into the messy abyss that was our current situation. Clear boundaries were healthy, and he was my employer. But that ship had sailed when I’d moved into his house and started leaving my bras on the doorknobs.

I had to defuse what felt like a massive bomb about to go off.

“It’s normal to feel some attraction.”

“Some attraction.” He threw his hands in the air. “It’s a lot more than some. I crave you, Parker. Your touch. Those sassy little looks you give me. I want to possess that smart mouth and make you scream my name.”

I gasped. Shit. I wanted that too. I wanted to see what happened when Pascal Gagnon let loose. When he wasn’t constrained by expectations and responsibilities. My nipples hardened, and I squeezed my thighs together. Because this man, his presence, his intensity, and his pent-up frustration were the biggest fucking turn-on. No man had ever lit me up inside the way he did, and we hadn’t done more than kiss.

He wrapped one arm around me. “I can’t keep going on like this. Tell me what you want.”

Taking a deep breath in through my nose, I willed my racing heart to slow. But it was a fool’s errand. It was too much. All my good judgment flew out the window when I looked into his dark eyes and said, “I want you.”

A slow smile spread across his face as he pulled me toward him. He kissed my earlobe and worked his way down the column of my neck. “Good. Because we’re going to be stuck in this house for at least twenty-four hours. We may as well find a way to kill the time.”

Chapter21

Pascal

Across the firelit room, her chest rose and fell with her heaving breaths. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.

It was the small details, how she licked her lips and squeezed her thighs together. How she kept looking away, then taking quick glances back as I prowled closer to her.

Pure fire coursed through my veins. The entire world ceased to exist when I looked at her. Even in a sweatshirt and leggings, she was the sexiest woman I’d ever seen.

And the allure was so much more than physical. It was her attitude. The way she carried herself. It wasn’t bluster or bravado with Parker. She was real. Full of honest-to-goodness confidence. A belief in herself that I found equally confounding and intoxicating.

She didn’t care about what anyone else thought. No, she pushed through life using her own abilities and convictions.

With her eyes locked on me, she leaned in closer, lighting up every nerve ending in my body. She pushed that dark hair behind her ears, narrowing her dark eyes, daring me to close the space between us.

She seemed to spend a lot of energy trying to hide her soft and feminine parts behind her bluster and edge, but I saw right through her.

Plump lips, long lashes, round hips. The small details that hit me square in the gut.

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