Her delicate nostrils flared, and I smiled.
“You like it when I tell you how it’s going to be. Don’t you, princess?”
It was the kind of line I’d throw at a girl I’d just met if I wanted her to drop her panties at my feet. It was the wrong thing to say to Vanessa.
She struggled against my hold, shoving me away. “Let. Me. Go.”
I squeezed her tighter until she stilled. “That’s the problem. I can’t. I’ve got nothing but blanks when I try to remember that night. It eats at me. Do you have any idea what it’s like to know I’ve touched you and tasted you—and I don’t remember any of it? It’s fucking torture.”
The sucker in me thought I could feel her heart hammering against my chest. For several minutes, she said nothing. I said nothing. The silence that stretched between us was heavy, but I didn’t care because I had my arms wrapped around her, and she wasn’t trying to pull away.
But she would.
A few more seconds passed before she said, “I have to get back to work.”
I had to force myself to release her. She stepped back, looking a little unsteady on her heels. Good. I wanted her as affected as I was.
“I’ll let you know—about tomorrow night. But then, we need to set some ground rules for…whatever this is.” She gestured between us.
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“I don’t like rules.”
“Too bad. I do.”
“Clear your schedule for tomorrow night, and maybe we’ll discuss your rules.”
“Like I said, I’ll let you know.”
“Fine.”
She turned away, and a thought occurred to me. I wrapped my hand around her elbow.
“If you’re blowing me off tomorrow night, it better not be for Lucas Titan.”
Her head jerked up. “Why would you say that?”
My eyes narrowed on her. “You got something going with him, too? He’d be right up your alley after Duchesne.”
She tugged her arm out of my grip and dug into her purse. Keys in hand, she looked back up at me. “That part of my life is none of your business.”
I closed the space between us, pinning her against the Mercedes before she could yank the door open.
“If you’re planning on fucking him, then I consider it my business.”
Her gasp was pure outrage, but I didn’t care. She needed to understand something about me. My voice was low and harsh when I said, “I don’t share. You better know that up front. You fuck Titan, and our deal is off.”
She didn’t turn, and she didn’t reply.
“Look at me, Vanessa. Know that I’m goddamn serious right now. Don’t you let him fucking touch you.”
She spun, and her blue eyes could have frozen the Mississippi.
“I’m looking at you, Con, but you better hear me. I might have agreed to give you a shot, but I didn’t agree to anything more. And if you ever speak to me like that again, you can live the rest of your life with the torture of not knowing, because you won’t be touching me again.”
“Then you’ll be kissing your deed goodbye.”
“If the only other option is sacrificing my self-respect, then so be it.”
“Your self-respect isn’t going to get your precious foundation’s building built.”
Her knee shot up and caught me unaware. I stumbled back a step, grunting, and bent over as the sick feeling in my gut twisted. “Fuck, woman. Did you have to crush my balls?”
She must have lowered her head because I could feel her breath on my ear when she spoke. “One, don’t ever talk to me like that again. I’m a fucking lady. And two, don’t make fun of my precious foundation. Oh, and three, I don’t have any intention of fucking Lucas Titan, or you, for that matter.”
I straightened halfway, in time to see her climb into the Mercedes.
If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I might have smiled.
She’s a fucking lady.
I might have gotten more than I’d bargained for with this deal.
My sweaty hands clutched the wheel as I drove back to the office. I had no idea where that woman came from. You know, the one who kneed Con in the balls and then drove away while he was bent over and gasping.
Holy hell.
He was already rubbing off on me.
I lifted a hand to my mouth and smothered my laugh.
Had I really said, “I’m a fucking lady?”
Oh. My. God.
There was something seriously wrong with me. Because that… whatever that had been… was more excitement than I’d had in a long, long time. Yes. There was something seriously wrong with me.
When my heart finally calmed down, I thought about what had set off the whole reaction. Lucas Titan. Con was already wondering what the hell was going on, and there was nothing I could tell him that would make him back off. Elle’s answer to lie wasn’t sitting well with me. So I’d try Plan B: I’d evade.
Yeah. Like that will work for long.
I had a feeling Con was like a damn bloodhound.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced down. Lucas. Shit.
I picked up on my hands-free system.
“This is Vanessa.”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Frost.”