Page 164 of The Art of Almost Losing It
He grabs me by the front of my jacket, hauls me into the foyer and slams the door, then he slams me back against it.
“Why the fuck did you come back, Dani?” There’s that flicker of violent possessive alpha.
“I didn’t mean to. I can leave. I just think we should get on the same page. There’s that party…”
He’s already turning away from me, heading back to his study.
“And I think based on your strong reaction last night that we need to just call this off!” I shout after him as I kick off my snowy winter boots. “I lost my virginity. In exchange, I will just waive my claim to being kidnapped by you. We can stage a big breakup.”
He’s going back to his desk.
“Or not,” I add. “It can just be a text-message breakup. Or an Instagram post. Sure, my mom’s going to be pissed, but she’s always pissed. Piper thinks she’s hangry and—”
“Shut up, Dani.” Graham leans back in his chair.
“Oh, um, sure, we can hear your ideas.”
“Take off your clothes.”
“What?” I squawk.
“I’m not listening to you until I get to fuck you.”
“Oh, uh,” I stammer, unsure of what to do.
It’s not like last night, where he was the alpha, the man in charge, the kidnapper who was going to make a little girl into a woman.
Now I’m supposed to… I’m not really sure what.
“Take off your fucking clothes then let me watch you.”
Watch me what? I didn’t bring my knitting project.
His eyes drop down then back up to my mouth.
“Oh.”
Right.
He leans back in his chair.
The view behind him is worth fifty million, easy. But he’s looking at me.
I want to melt into a puddle.
Mouth dry, I slowly unbutton the herringbone-pattern coat and hang it up on the hat stand in the corner. Then I shimmy out of my tights.
He’s still watching me. Silently.
Then I slink my arms into the sweater dress so I can take off my bra and pull it out of the neckline.
“Ta-da! A magic trick,” I croak.
He doesn’t say anything.
Just stares.
I know I’m not that great to look at, and the dress I wore yesterday had a lot of built-in structure. It was doing a lot of heavy lifting.
