“Hey, I’m not the one who brought the douchebag.” Cole cocked his hip and leaned into one of the metal racks looking self-satisfied at his little joke.
He was being a complete ass, but damned if he didn’t look good with those dark waves spilling over his forehead. He studied her, his eyes churning with anger…or maybe amusement? Olivia couldn’t identify the emotion, just as she couldn’t be sure if it was lust or rage causing her own heart to beat spastically in her chest. She told herself it was anger. It had to be. Her traitorous heart definitely wasn’t thinking about all of the delicious things he could do with that mouth of his.
That would just be wrong.
“The only douchebag out there was you,” she spat, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. “What do you care anyway? You’re not my boyfriend. In case you forgot, the only thing going on between you and me is crazy monkey sex.”
Cole pushed off the rack. He was on her in a flash, trapping her between his powerful arms, his hands braced against the shelves behind her. “You made that perfectly clear out there,” he growled. His gray eyes were smoldering under his lashes. Her pulse skyrocketed. “We’re definitely not a thing, right?”
“You don’t get to have it both ways,” Olivia said, raising her chin defiantly. “You don’t get to say we’ll just have sex, no strings attached, no emotional involvement, and then be a total possessive jackass to the only date I’ve had in years.”
Cole shot her a dark look and snorted. “Who, Wall Street? You can do better than that, Olivia.”
“Did you even hear what people were saying? I told you not to tell anyone. I told you they’d find out. I told you…” Olivia trailed off, unable to finish due to the sudden rock in her throat.
Cole shook his head. He dropped his arms and she could breathe again. He stepped away, turning his back to her as he walked the length of the pantry. She couldn’t read his mind, but his body language spoke volumes as he laced his fingers behind his head. He was clearly struggling. With what exactly, she didn’t know.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Cole said. “But it doesn’t matter what they think.”
“Doesn’t matter to who?” Olivia snapped. “Because it sure as hell matters to me. I don’t know how you ended up so fancy that you could just swoop in and steal my partnership and have nothing matter to you, but I worked my way to where I am. I have fought for years against jerks who said I was just a pretty face and a hot ass that slept her way up the corporate ladder.” Olivia paused to take a deep breath, her heart hammering against her ribcage. “And now, thanks to you, everyone is, once again, saying I’ve fucked my way to the top.”
“I can tell them—”
“No,” Olivia said emphatically. “You’ve said more than enough. I don’t need you to defend my reputation. I need you to get the hell out of my head.”
“This thing between us, it’s not going away. I’m not going away.” He closed the distance between them, leaving only inches between their bodies. Tension crackled in the air, an undeniable reminder of their explosive chemistry. “We’re so good together, Olivia. We shouldn’t let a bunch of ignorant gossips screw it up.”
He stroked her cheek, his eyes fixed on hers. His breath came hard and fast. She wondered if his blood pressure was as close to the danger zone as her own. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. What did she want? She’d been so convinced that their sex was just meaningless fun to him that his reaction to seeing her with Alex had caught her off guard. Was it possible he wanted more? He hadn’t actually said he felt anything more for her than unbridled lust—which, she had to admit, was still worth a hell of a lot—but there was the way he’d acted so…hurt when she’d insisted to Lexie they weren’t dating. And then the way he’d completely insulted Alex. Was she just seeing what she wanted to see, or was there more? It had been so long since she had opened herself up to a man, she’d be crazy to start with this one. If she let him in and he broke her heart, she’d never be able to put those pieces back together again. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, this man had the potential to obliterate her.
It was impossible to think with him crowding her. She turned her head, refusing to look him in the eye. It didn’t help. With his breath scorching her cheek, rational thought slipped through her fingers like sand through an hourglass.