Page 28 of Offside

Ballas reaches out for my hand, slipping his large, calloused fingers through mine to tug me toward him. My first instinct is to scan the hallway for anyone who might see this. Ballas’s palm prevents that when he cups my face and redirects my gaze to his. My secondary reaction is to resist because that’s what I’m good at.

“Ballas…” It’s supposed to be a warning but falls flat as I try to turn in the opposite direction. But his words stop me.

“I want to give you a birthday gift.”

“A gift?” I ask, puzzlement wrinkling in my brows.

“Yeah. Every beautiful woman deserves a gift on her birthday.”

He just learned it was my birthday tonight, so how would he have time to get me a gift? Wait a minute…is he going to offer to sleep with me? Is sex the gift he has in mind for me?

He can obviously read my thoughts from my confused expression and he clucks his tongue.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he jokes darkly, lifting a brow, slipping a hand in his suit pocket. “That’d be low even by my standards. This is what I want to give to you.”

Ballas pulls a small, white object out of his suit jacket and holds it out in the palm of his hand. I gingerly pick it up between two fingers and examine the paper napkin origami creation.

“A swan?” A smile comes unbidden to my lips. My cheeks heat. “Where did you get it?”

“I made it for you.” Ballas shrugs. “A swan symbolizes grace, beauty, and transformation.”

“Oh,” I say flatly. I’m a bit floored by the gift’s meaning. “Wow. That’s beautiful. Thank you.”

“There is, of course, still the matter of payback.”

My gaze snaps up from the swan to Ballas’s face. He rubs a hand over his bearded chin, as if challenging me to object.

Instead of doing the sensible thing and moving away from him, I poke the bear.

The risk is too great and the stakes are too high, but that doesn’t to stop me.

I want to know. No…Ineedto know.

“What kind of payback?”

My voice doesn’t even sound like my own. It’s shaky and thin with a note of anticipation.

He moves so fast I don’t have time to voice out even a squeak as suddenly I’m spun around and my back is flush to the wall. Ballas throws his palms above my head and hovers over me, elbows bracketing at my shoulders.

“I think you know exactly what kind of payback, sweetheart.”

For all intents and purposes, I should be enraged at the endearment. As if I’m one of his nameless women he’s seduced.

Instead, my spine turns to jelly. My body slumps languidly against the wall, clearly affected by his nearness. If it wasn’t for the arm that he sweeps around my waist to hold me up, I’d be a puddle on the floor.

Ballas makes no move to encroach any further into my space, but I sense the physical strength that he uses to hold himself back, a departure from his natural instinct to devour me. His masculine scent of spicy amber and bourbon surround me, tickling my senses, and I feel dizzy in his presence. Maybe the champagne is partially to blame, but I might as well be floating off the ground for how light I feel right now.

“Payback or not, it can’t happen.”

I place my palm on his chest with the intent of pushing him away, but I’m met with hard steel. I need breathing room and a moment to think clearly. When Ballas is this close, my brain goes haywire and my thoughts get fuzzy. His proximity has my body lighting up in a chaotic chorus, loud and buzzing.

“But do you want it to happen?” His voice, deep and sensual, sends a ripple of awareness through my limbs and between my legs.

Oh, how that question leaves me breathless and unable to form a logical response. Do I want him? Do I want what he’s offering me? Do I want to take the risk?

The answer is…yes.

Yes.

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