Page 17 of The Naughty List

Her breath hitches in her throat and we both ignore the yelling behind us to come back to the table. Instead, I stand up slowly, not releasing my grip on her neck. I grab her waist and spin her around, walking her backward a little till she’s flush against a pillar in the middle of the room. I lean down, my lips hovering over hers, teasing her. I press my rigid cock into her belly so she can feel what she does to me. I’m teasing her; I want her insatiable with desire for me. I want her so frenzied she’ll rip my clothes off by the time I get her back to her house. She steps onto her tippy-toes and our lips just touch when someone trips and falls into us, spilling beer all over her.

“Oh shit, my bad,” the guys says, laughing as he stumbles and falls over.

“You okay, man?” I ask as I reach down and help him up.

I turn my attention back to Kate. “You okay?” I ask as she gives me a nod. I look her up and down; there’s a wet stain all over her jeans and white sweater.

“Come on, I’ll call an Uber. Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”

8

KATE

“Sit,” Damon says as he grabs my waist and hoists me onto the counter in my bathroom. He grabs a towel and begins to dab it against my sweater, trying to soak the beer out of it.

He’s standing between my thighs as he presses the towel against my side with one hand while holding my waist with the other. The warmth of his fingers through my sweater is doing things to me. He’s focused on the task at hand so I take a moment to look at him, really look at him. His usually clean-shaven face has two days of stubbly growth and I want to reach out and run my hand against it.

“You confuse me.” I say the words before I can stop myself and I know it’s because of the alcohol but I don’t want to take them back.

“How so?” he asks, looking up at me through his long, dark lashes.

“Most of the time you look at me like you hate me. Like I infuriate you so bad you either want to fire me or punch me, I can’t decide. And then sometimes…” I swallow down the words. Should I open this can of worms? We were so close to kissing again tonight and I could blame it on the alcohol but I know that’s not the truth. I want it to happen again.

“And then sometimes?” He repeats my words back to me.

“Sometimes you look at me like you want to bend me over your desk.” I feel myself redden as I say each word. He stops what he’s doing for just a second before letting out a small chuckle.

“You’re not wrong.” He smirks as he stands up and tosses the towel into the hamper.

“So, which one was it tonight? At the bar. I saw the way you kept looking at me.” He stands between my legs, resting a hand on either thigh as he looks at me.

“You answer my question and I’ll answer yours,” he says.

“What question?”

“What are you going to do about this whole thing with your family and Chad?”

I push his hands off my thighs and jump down from the counter. Of course he’d ruin the moment. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I say as I step out of the bathroom and into my closet, Damon following close behind me.

“Why not? Is it because you’re not going to do anything again? Even though this shithead is telling your family blatant lies about you, you’re just going to pretend like everything is okay?”

“Can you get out so I can undress? I need to shower.” I say the words calmly without looking at him.

“No. Why do you keep running from this, Kate? Please, just tell me why you refuse to grow a backbone and stand up for yourself? You have no problem at work standing up to me, telling me when I’ve been an asshole.”

I turn around to face him. I’m angry and frustrated but he’s not wrong. I don’t know why I can’t just tell my family that their actions with Chad hurt me. “I don’t know, Damon, okay? I don’t know.” I fling my arms. “There. Are you happy? I’m a pushover!”

“No, no, I’m not happy. I care about you, Kate.” He steps toward me and grabs my hand, but I pull it away.

“You care about me? That’s rich,” I mock.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he snaps back.

“You didn’t give a fuck about my car breaking down and me needing to leave work early. You didn’t care that I was covered in coffee and slush when I showed up late to work. You didn’t care I had to wear someone else’s clothes that didn’t even fit me. No. Instead, you made fun of me and mocked my situation.” I point my finger at him as I step toward him.

“It’s not like that, Kate; it’s not because I don’t care or didn’t care.” He’s exasperated and turns and walks out of the closet.

“Then why, Damon? So now that the tables are turned and I’m putting you in the hot seat to answer questions, you walk away.” I follow him as he marches back into the bathroom.

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