If I Only Knew

“Believe it, sweetheart. Now, say the words . . .”

Darren continued his games after the inspection, holding us in limbo for the last few days, but we got it. Callum is going to be so relieved and I might actually get to keep my job. All because of Milo and his crazy plan that actually panned out.

“You really came through for me, Milo,” I smile at him as he sets me down. “You’re amazing and brilliant and whatever else you want to hear.”

“No, you are.” Milo winks at me and I suddenly realize how inappropriate that was.

After my wine-fest with my friends, I made a promise that until Milo and I talked, I would not allow myself the opportunity to cross any lines. I’m not a sleep-around girl. I don’t do one-night things. I need stability, rules, definitions in relationships, and someone I can count on.

That talk taught me that I can’t function in disfunction.

Milo is the epitome of that. He’s reckless, spontaneous, lives his life without rules and that works for him, but that will never be how I operate.

I take a step back, but he follows me.

“I appreciate all your help getting this done for the team. We needed this win, and you brought it home for Dovetail,” I say, trying to slip back into boss and employee mode.

“I don’t give a fuck about Dovetail.”

My heart begins to race as Milo takes another step closer. He’s stalking me, and I’m trapped with nowhere to go.

“Okay, well, whatever your motives were, thank you.”

“I did it for you,” he says as his body is almost touching mine.

I can’t think when he’s this close and says things like that. It makes it too hard to remember that we can’t go there.

“Don’t say that.” I turn my head to the side.

“It’s the truth.”

Our eyes meet and I want so badly for this to be another time in my life. One where I wasn’t worried about everything and all my stupid rules. I would let him whisk me away to the kind of world he lives in. Why can’t I have what I want? Will I ever allow myself a chance to live and not be worried about everyone else? No. I won’t. So all the other questions . . .

My heart races as I answer myself and tell him, “It doesn’t matter.”

“The fuck it does matter. I did it for you. I didn’t do it for Callum or this silly job he’s trying to teach me a lesson with. I don’t give a damn about any of it.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think, Danielle?”

I try to move out of his grasp but he cages me in. “I don’t know what to think. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know.”

My chest rises and falls as my breathing becomes labored. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I have feelings for you. That no matter how many times I tell myself you’re off limits, I find myself wanting to touch you.” He lifts his hand slowly, pushing the strand of hair that fell in my eye.

“We’re not kissing again,” I say. “Not until we talk about all of this and come up with some plan.”

Milo grins, his lips brush against my ear and I shiver. “Who said anything about kissing?”





Chapter Twenty





Milo





I’m a bastard.

I’m a selfish bastard but I can’t seem to fucking care.

Her lips part and desire swims in her blue eyes as she tries to fight it. Watching her like this is reason enough to keep going.

“I’m saying we can’t kiss,” her voice is soft and there’s no conviction in her words. Her body moves toward me, even though there’s very little space left to go, and I know she wants to kiss me.

I glide my finger down her neck, loving the silky feel of her skin. She’s absolutely breathtaking right now.

All day I watched her walk around in her pencil skirt with her white blouse that I could see through with the right light. I thought about tearing it open, watching the buttons fall around us as I sunk my cock in her. Each time she sighed, I imagined her lying beneath me as I dragged different sounds from those plump lips.

If she keeps breathing like this, forcing her breasts to rise and fall, I might just act on that little fantasy.

“Then what can we do?” I question.

Her eyes close as I continue to lightly touch her. I’m going to push her as far as I can. She’s not fooling me here, and I’m tired of watching her have this war in her mind. When she’s unguarded, she acts, and that is a sight to behold.

“We can’t . . . we can’t . . . kiss because . . . God,” she mutters. “I can’t think with you touching me.”

I love that I fluster her so easily.

She takes her bottom lip between her teeth and I’m rock fucking hard. I want her so badly it hurts. I need to touch her. I can’t wait another moment and I don’t give a shit about her rules regarding us.

There are no fucking rules.

The attraction between us in undeniable and my feelings for her are more than I ever wanted to allow.

Danielle is the first woman that makes me want more in my life. I don’t care about the cars, money, job, or any of that. I want to be someone worthy of her. Someone she can rely on and it’s driving me mad.

I think about caring for her.

I see things and think of Parker and his love of comics.

My mind wanders all the bloody time to thoughts about how to make her smile again, because the sight of it makes my heart swell. Like a fucking fool.

However, right now, all I’m thinking about is touching every inch of her before I lose control.

“Can I do this?” I ask as I reach the top of her chest. My fingers graze her breast and she lets out a soft moan.

“Milo.”

“What about this?” My touch drops lower and I skim across where her nipple hides in her bra. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No, but we should,” she admits.

“Says who, darling?”

I move my other hand up her back, fastening her to me and her fingers grip my arm. We breathe each other in and I pause.

Her eyes open. The lust and passion are unbridled. That look is enough to bring a man to his knees.

I know what she said, but I can’t stop myself. I have to kiss her. I pull her even tighter and bring my lips to hers—even knowing she might pull away.

Instead, her eyes close, her fingers move up my arms to the back of my neck as she lifts on her toes and she kisses me.

God, does she ever.

Gone is the woman who thinks she has any control. Just like the kiss in the car, Danielle is almost wild. Her hands grip the top of my head, holding me to her as if I was going anywhere. My feet move forward, needing the leverage, but we hit the desk.

My hand hooks under her thigh, lifting her and pushing everything on the desk out of the way. I hear the clanging of things going to the floor, but neither one of us separate to assess the damage.

I’ve always wanted to do that.

I kiss her hard, resting my weight on the cold wood desk. Another file goes flying, slapping the ground and she moves herself more center.

Her eyes are filled with heat, burning for more. I stand in front of her, laid out before me. My imagination did her no justice.

She’s a fucking Goddess.

Her hair is spilled around her, her lips slightly swollen from the kiss, and instead of pushing me away, she smiles at me.

“I’m not stopping if you don’t, understand?” I ask as I climb on top of her.

“Milo,” she says my name with confliction.

My thumb brushes across her lips and she parts them so I rub along the opening. “Do you want this?”

Her eyes fill with so many emotions I can’t keep track. I see the fear, but then it shifts to desire. She’s in her head again and I’m going to pull her out if it’s the last thing I do.

My mouth replaces my finger on her lip and her leg curls up, hooking around my calf. Yeah, she wants this.

Her hands travel down my back and I slide my tongue in her mouth, loving the taste of her.

I kiss her hard, enjoying how much she meets my power. Danielle isn’t timid with me, and I fucking love it. I climb on top of the desk, letting my weight settle with her. “God,” she moans again.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I tell her.

“More. I want more, Milo.”