Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 71(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 71(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Heather is only a few inches shorter than me at 5’10, and she likes wearing heels, so as we sway to the music, we’re almost at eye level.
For the life of me, I cannot look away. For years, I’ve only traced her profile with my sight, contenting myself with glimpses or long stares if no one else is looking. But up close, it’s like Heather has reached inside my chest and wrapped her hands around my heart, squeezing it, making it beat for her and only her.
She’s saying something, but I cannot hear anything except for the frantic beating of my heart, my palms sweating, blood rushing down my cock. It’s all too much. My thoughts tumble over one another, but when she taps a finger on my jaw, everything snaps back into focus, my gaze sharpening on her.
“Where were you just now, Baron?”
It takes me a while to respond because I am so fucking out of my depth here. I admit I wanted to seduce her, make her see me as more than someone she hates, and basically help convince her of the possibility of us actually dating. Not just faking it.
But somewhere between striking a deal with her and feeling her this close to me, something has rearranged inside me. Whatever I felt for her before intensifies, and it’s like watching myself roll down the hill unable to stop. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to.
“Baron, stop staring at me like you want to eat me!” she hisses.
I spot the exact moment she realizes what she said because she snaps her eyes shut and groans. “God, no. Quit it, Baron.”
“I’m not even saying or doing anything.”
“I see it in your eyes. I know what you’re thinking.”
“Ah. Tell me.”
“No.”
“Come on, Heather. You never backed down from going toe to toe with me before. Don’t do it now.”
Her eyes flare because if there’s one thing about Heather, it’s that she hates being called a coward—even in a roundabout way.
I pull her closer to me, and she sucks in a sharp breath, no doubt feeling the electricity zapping through the air. The tension between us is like a living, breathing thing, and I can almost taste it on my tongue.
I want to tease her like usual, but I can’t find the words to do so when her eyes turn glassy and she swipes her tongue along her bottom lip.
I want to suck that tongue and devour her right here and right now in front of everyone. I want to see what that dirty mouth can do aside from trading barbs with me. I want to see her come apart in my arms.
The music ends, and we’re the only ones left on the dance floor. My hands stay where they are, and she does the same. Once we return to our table, this spell we’re under will undoubtedly break. And fuck, I’ve waited all my life for this one shot with Heather. I’ll be damned if I let it slip away.
My hand skims her back—up, up, up until I can wrap it around the back of her neck. Her breathing becomes uneven, her gaze dropping to my mouth, and I can feel myself devolving into a feral version of myself. A beast whose only purpose in life is to stake a claim over his woman.
Just as I’m about to ghost over her full lips, a sudden, sharp sound shatters our moment. We both register the noise at the same time—the unmistakable sound of glass breaking echoing behind us.
We turn to look at the commotion, and well, it’s just someone who accidentally sent his wine glass crashing to the floor, the staff moving swiftly to clean up the mess.
Everyone goes back to their meals, but the damage has been done. We can no longer go back to almost kissing.
Goddammit.
Disappointment crashes through me, but I tamp it down.
Heather didn’t fake her reaction to my touch. She was more than ready to let me kiss her. She didn’t say no. She didn’t push me away. More importantly, her grip on my shoulder tightened when I got closer.
I’m going to have to settle for that right now.
4
HEATHER
The thing with Baron confuses the hell out of me. He’s been an annoying constant in my life throughout grade school, middle school, high school, and unfortunately, university too.
He can be funny when he wants to, I’ll give him that, but our interactions have always been limited to arguments. I never saw him in that way, like desiring him or wanting to know how it would feel wrapped in his arms, his mouth on mine, his hands all over my body. It baffled me why girls bent over backward to please him and make him notice them. I didn’t understand the hype around him back then.
Now I do. Jesus Christ, I absolutely get it.