Page 63 of Forbidden Bond

“Nothing. I went to see my sister today. She’s getting a divorce,” I tell him as he opens the front door.

“That’s rough, princess.”

I follow him into the house and immediately take a seat on the couch, watching as he goes through the motions of taking off his jacket and turning on the lights. I study him for a moment.

“You know you can tell me if anything’s wrong, right?”

Topher moves to sit down beside me on the couch. “What could possibly be wrong, Katie? Things are running smoothly at work and I get to see your beautiful face.”

My breath catches. Then he makes matters worse when he leans closer to brush a few strands of hair from my face. I’m acutely aware of our proximity. I don’t make a sound or make any movements, and he freezes when he realizes how still I am.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asks quietly.

I look up at him. Heat blooms beneath my skin and everything I want to say, everything I should say, gets caught in my throat. “You don’t want to know.”

His thumb trails down my cheek. “I want to know everything about you.”

My traitorous eyes flicker down to his lips, every inch of me begging to close the gap. His gaze licks at my skin like fire as it trails along my face. I’m turned on by just the way he’s looking at me. I wonder if he knows just how much power he has over me. Just how powerless I am when I’m around him.

“This is a bad idea,” I murmur, inching closer despite myself.

Topher smiles. “Leap first, look later.”

The statement barely registers. He leans in and kisses me. I freeze for a heartbeat, then my hand is in his hair as I deepen the kiss. My grip tightens on his clothes. Topher lifts me with barely any effort, placing me in his lap, right on top of his hard length. He wraps his arms around me, kissing me savagely. It’s not slow and sweet, and it’s not a kiss fueled by alcohol or because of my conflicted emotions.

It’s a kiss born of desire so hot it threatens to burn me from the inside out.

I slide my fingers across his shoulders. One of his hands grips my hair, tugging hard, while the other reaches down to the hem of my shirt, dancing across my skin. I kiss him even harder. My fingers push through his hair, along the tendons of his neck. I’m about to rip his shirt open when a sharp ringing sound fills the air. I jerk away from Topher like I was caught doing something wrong. Which I probably was.

I’m still in his lap. He runs a hand through his hair, looking amused.

“You might want to get that, princess,” he says, pointing at my bag in the corner of the living room.

I nod, still a little dazed as I get off his lap. My legs are a shaky when I get to my feet. My heart pounds with every step I take toward my bag. Jameson’s name flashes across the screen of my phone, and I don’t know if I should be irritated or pleased that he interrupted us. A part of me wants to ignore the call and continue where I left off with Topher. But I can’t do that.

“What’s up?” I ask, holding the phone up to my ear.

The voice that replies doesn’t belong to my best friend, “You know Jameson Clyde?” the man questions, his voice rough and hard. I stiffen.

“He’s my friend. What’s going on? Where he is?”

“He’s in a pretty bad way, sweetheart. Owes us some money. He said to call you so you’d bring it here.”

Fear climbs up my throat. “Where is he?” I repeat.

A few seconds later, Jamie’s voice is in my ear. He laughs nervously. “Hey, kitty Kat.”

“Jamie,” I breathe, “what’s going on? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” The slight clench in his voice tells me he’s anything but. “Listen, I need you to do me a favor. I got involved with some people a few months ago. And I forgot I was supposed to give them some money.”

I groan, clenching my jaw. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

“How much?”

“Ten grand, cash,” he replies, and my eyes widen.

“Where the hell am I supposed to get ten grand? I’m jobless, Jameson!” I yell, starting to panic.

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