Page 25 of Wild Rivals

“I know you’re in there,” she barks.

I pull the door open with a scowl already in place. My eyes land on the tall brunette with fire burning in her eyes. Maddie’s fist is raised to knock on the door that’s no longer there, and as my gaze travels from her raised hand to her face, her eyes narrow.

Fisting the top of my towel with one hand as I grip the door with the other, I grit out, “What are you doing here, Hart?”

Her focus shifts to my bare, water-droplet-covered chest, and her eyes widen a fraction, just enough to tell me she’s surprised at what she sees. Maybe even a little turned on if the slight hitch in her breath is anything to go by. It throws me back to the night in The Wildflower, then the morning of the pitch, and just like that I feel myself harden.

Maddie catches herself, and a storm of emotion swirls in her dark brown depths as she brings her attention back to my face.

“You’re an asshat,” she spits, stepping forward to jab me in the chest with a finger.

The corner of my mouth lifts as I look down at where she’s just poked me before looking at her from under my lashes. “You’ve already told me that.” I pause, an idea forming that I give little thought to before continuing, “You know, if you’d wanted to get me naked, you didn’t have to turn up here unannounced and call me names. All you had to do was ask, darlin’.”

Clearly frustrated with my teasing, Maddie stomps her foot and growls at me like a cornered wolf. “Can you take anything seriously? On top of being an asshat, you’re infuriating,” she bites out. “You must have known I’d come, or did you honestly think that what you did was honorable?”

Right now, she looks a little wild. Like the horses that run free out in the mountains and across the plains. Almost unpredictable. Like she’d fight me every step of the way and I’d love it. Hell, if I don’t hate that as much as I should.

Fuck.

The thought catches me off guard. Fucking Maddie is never going to happen, even if the way she looks right now—with a pinkish hue in her cheeks and her anger flowing in her veins—is near impossible to resist.

Something inside of me is yearning to push her a little more and then have her show me how much she hates me as she moans my name. My body reacts before I can stop it, and I shift on my feet, hoping she doesn’t drop her attention to below my waistline.

Wetting my lips and pushing down on the top of my towel in warning to my cock, I reply, “As much as I love seeing you like this, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” I lie.

Her nostrils flare. She steps forward into my house, forcing me to move back or risk colliding with her, which, with my cock standing at half-mast, isn’t such a good idea. God, I need to get a grip.

Oblivious to my body’s reaction to her, Maddie seethes, “Don’t play dumb, Wilde. You went behind my back instead of winning the lease fair and square. That’s not how decent”—she sneers the word, her top lip curling as though she knows there’s nothing decent about me—“folk conduct business.”

The door clicks shut behind her, but Maddie doesn’t seem to notice, too intent on her warpath.

Something a little wild and ever so slightly dangerous pulsates beneath my skin, pushing me to do something I shouldn’t. It’s telling me that this is inevitable. That all this push and pull between us all these years was just leading up to this moment.

Claim her, Wyatt.

I brush it off. There’s no way I’m entertaining that thought, no matter how much my body might want me to.

“Woah.” I hold my hands up as Maddie continues to advance on me.

My towel slips. I grab the material before it can expose my hardening cock and cross a line I’m sure neither of us is willing to cross.

Unaware, Maddie continues moving toward me and forcing me to walk back, deeper into the house. Her brown eyes are nearly black with her temper.

“With every interaction anyone in my family has had with you, you come riding in on your high horse, but you’re nothing but a selfish, inconsiderate jerk with no morals.”

Her words are meant to hurt, and while they don’t necessarily have the desired impact I’m sure she’s hoping for, they do flip a switch in me. I come to a stop in the middle of the living room, causing Maddie to plow into my chest.

I’ve had enough of this.

Double-rolling the towel so that I don’t risk any accidents, I grip her arms, holding her steady until she shakes me off.

“You should leave,” I grind out. “Before something happens that we’ll both regret.”

“You don’t intimidate me, Wilde. Far from it,” she declares, standing her ground and proving her point.

Even as I crowd her in, forcing her to move, she doesn’t back down, at least until her back hits the wall. Then I see a flicker of surprise in her gaze.

“You’ve lost your damn mind, Hart.” I suck in a breath, my bare chest expanding with the force. “Did you honestly think you could come into my house, disrespect me, and that I’d just stand here listening as you do it?” I ask, unable to hide the disbelief in my tone.