Page 10 of Trustfall
The look on Cavan’s face was all the confirmation I needed, as did Jameson’s when I spun around on the stool and was met with his irritatingly pompous, panty-dropping grin from across the bar.
The nerve of that man.
My blood was boiling much like the back of my throat as I threw the tequila shot back and sat for a minute, stewing in my feelings, volleying between disbelief, annoyance, and rage, with the latter taking precedence.
Who the hell did he think he was?
It was one thing to be deemed unworthy by a blind date, but it was an entirely different beast to know Jameson thought of me as unworthy. That realization stabbed away at me like a remorseless second-hand tick on a clock. With each passing second, the wound deepened until I felt suffocated.
Desperate for a reprieve, I set some bills down on the bar top and pushed my stool back, nearly stumbling over my two left feet as I cursed the invisible chokehold Jameson had over meand made my way toward the back hallway. However, this time, seeking refuge inside the private confines of Ryan’s office.
A storm raged within my chest as I pressed my palms against the desk, illuminated solely by the soft glow of an antique lamp. I struggled to regain my breath as a surge of emotions overwhelmed me. I hated feeling weak and not in control of my feelings. Jameson’s effect on me was beyond maddening, and yet it wasn’t anything new. One second, I’d think I had him all figured out, and the next, he brought me to my knees.
Did he get off on watching me fail?
Did he strive to be a perpetual thorn in my side?
The rowdy sounds of the bar suddenly filled the room as the door opened and closed swiftly behind me. I knew it was him before I turned around; his scent had been fully engrained in my brain for all eternity.
“You still running, Red?”
I straightened my spine, minus the nerves working overtime to thwart my resolve.
“If it means keeping my personal space intact from you, then yes.” I turned around, only to be greeted by his signature cocky smirk, which I swear he reserved solely for me.
One that invited the burden of both temptation and consequence, forcing me to dig deep to maintain my composure.
“Ah, come on, I think you like me crowding your personal space.” His tone was smooth as velvet as he took tentative steps to close the distance between us, causing me to back up until I was perched on Ryan’s desk with nowhere else to go.
The dim lighting cast shadows on his face, heightening the intense feeling of rivalry that simmered beneath the surface.
“And what gives you that impression?” I asked.
“Your telltale signs.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said desperately, trying to ignore the growing dampness in my panties.
“Oh, yes, you do, Ari. It’s just you and me in here. Let your guard down; give into this desire I know you have for me.”
“Cocky much?” I scoffed.
“You have no idea.”
My blood pumped hot through my veins while the anger that simmered beneath the surface, begging to be unleashed, shifted toward a different energy. Dark and buzzing with an undercurrent of excitement. His touch poured more gasoline on the fire while tingles danced up my spine when the tips of his fingers skirted across my thighs toward the hem of my little black dress.
“That’s where you’re wrong; I know all about you, Jameson.”
His lips ghosted a path across my cheek as his heavenly scent enveloped me. “And what am I thinking about right now?”
“How badly you want to get on your knees for me.”
“You have no fucking idea, Red.” He punctured his desire by scissoring his teeth over my earlobe and digging his fingers fiercely into my hips.
My lips parted as my head lolled back on my shoulders. My legs uncrossed in silent permission, and I prayed to the gods above for all the heavenly strength I needed to walk out of this room with my dignity intact. A task that felt overly ambitious as I watched him lower himself before me with a heated gaze hot enough to scorch us both.
“I can already smell your desire, Ari, and you smell fucking fantastic.”
Willing myself to play his game, I lifted my leg, placed the arch of my high-heeled boot on his shoulder, and was rewarded with a gleam of satisfaction.
