Chapter Sixteen
SIXTEEN
Aidan
I jolt back at the sight of Micah backing me against the door, hitting my head against the hardwood. “What the…”
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Micah bites. “You didn’t tell me about the decaf coffee in the break room because you knew I drink a pot of coffee a day, and you knew the caffeine withdrawal would screw me up.”
My lips twitch, aching to laugh.
Yeah, I know I’m a dick for laughing in her face when she’s struggling.
But feels really, really good to see Micah off her game after how she laughed while I coughed my guts out the other day.
I lean forward and look her straight in the eye. “Like I said before, it slipped my mind.”
Micah’s deep umber gaze turns fiery as she glowers at me. She wags her finger in my face. “You’re a liar. And a jerk.”
“So are you,” I growl. “You think I was just going to let you get away with dousing my sandwich in hot sauce, then laughing about it while I coughed my brains out?”
Her tan skin flushes as she purses her lips. She drops her hand to her side. “At least I had a legitimate reason for doing that to you. You were looking at my chest again after I told you not to.”
I lean my head back against the door, yank a hand through my hair, and let out a frustrated groan. “Micah, for the millionth time, I told you that was an accident. It was bad timing. Your chest just happened to be in my line of vision.”
She throws her head back and lets out the most frustrated sounding laugh. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re still sticking with that lie.”
I grit my teeth as irritation rockets through me. I can’t take one more second of this woman calling me a liar when I’m telling the truth.
“I’m not going to stand here while you call me a liar,” I mutter.
I move to step around her, but she plants her hand on my chest. “We’re not done.”
I still instantly, glancing down at her hand on my body.
Her warm, soft hand…
Even through the fabric of my shirt, I can feel how hot her skin is.
My pulse kicks up as she stands there touching me. Goose bumps flash up and down my skin.
I blink down at Micah. She’s looking at her hand on my chest. I watch as the skin on her slender, delicate neck flushes pink. She swallows, and I keep watching her, mesmerized by the slow movement along her throat.
That anger from seconds ago has transformed completely. Now, instead of feeling pissed off, I feel intrigued. And hot. Really, really hot.
Well. This is…different.
Still staring at my chest, she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. Something in my belly flickers.
Fuck, that’s sexy.
A long moment passes before I notice the change in the air between us. It’s still thick with tension…but a different kind of tension.
Before I can think more about it, she quickly pulls her hand away. Like she just got caught touching a hot stove.
Her chest heaves as she takes a breath. My gaze lands on her collarbone, how the skin above her chest is flushed now too.
She looks up at me. “I wouldn’t call you a liar if you would just tell me the truth.” Her voice is softer now, but the conviction is still there.
And that’s when I know that she can feel this change in the air between us now too.
That flicker in my chest intensifies.
“You want to know the truth, Micah?” My voice is low and rough.
Her gaze falls to my mouth for a split second. She licks her lips before look up at my eyes again. Something flashes in her gorgeous deep brown gaze. It takes a second before I figure out what it is.
It’s lust.
I think Micah wants me. Which is convenient because I want her too.
I let my gaze drag across her plush lips. My mouth waters.
My brain feels like it’s short-circuiting with how quickly things have changed course between us in the span of just a couple of minutes.
I’m not normally like this. In the past, when I’ve argued with a partner, I’ve never felt anywhere close to being turned on.
But I’ve never argued like this before. I’ve never been backed against a wall by a beautiful woman who I’m insanely attracted to but who I also can’t stand…
What the hell his happening?
“I want the truth,” Micah says in a breathy voice.
It feels like firecrackers are going off in my chest. It ignites the last of my nerve enough to tell her what I’ve been holding back these past several days.
“Okay. Here it is—you have fantastic breasts, Micah. There, I said it. Your perfect breasts were inches from my face, spilling out of your bra, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring that first time. And the second time it happened, it was just awful timing. I really didn’t mean to look, but I did. Because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, and from the first moment I saw you, I can’t get you out of my head. How’s that for the truth?”
Her mouth falls open as she stares at me. In the quiet few moments that follow, my heart thrashes in my chest. It’s beating so hard, I can feel it in my ears.
Holy shit… I can’t believe I just said all that.
She blinks quickly. “Wait, you…you think I’m beautiful?”
I’m confused by how surprised she sounds. “Yeah.”
She just stares at me. I almost laugh. Does she not know what she looks like?
“I think you’re hot,” she blurts.
I fall back into the door again, stunned. “You do?”
She nods. “Of course I do.”
Now it’s my turn to feel surprised. I start to laugh out of sheer disbelief.
“I wasn’t expecting you to say that,” I finally say.
That pink flush painting her cheeks and chest intensifies. “Well. It’s the truth. You told me yours. It’s only fair I tell you mine.”
Her gaze falls to my mouth once again.
I can’t help but smile. “You keep looking at my mouth.”
Her eyes cut to mine. “So do you.”
She bites her bottom lip once more, then runs her candy-pink tongue along the seam of her mouth.
My dick pulses. That mouth and that tongue have told me off, they’ve called me names…
And it only makes me want her more.
I try to swallow back a groan, but it comes out sounding like a growl. “Stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?” There’s a teasing lilt to her voice. She’s fucking with me. She’s fucking with me, and I love it.
“Biting your lip. Licking your mouth. It makes me wild. It makes me want to kiss you, Micah.”
The corner of her mouth quirks up, like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
I lean my head closer to her. Our faces are barely two inches apart now.
“I’m warning you, Micah. If you bite your lip again, I’m going to kiss you.”
Her mouth parts open. She exhales, her hot, wet breath sheeting across my skin. I tap my tongue against my top lip, and I swear I can taste her. The faintest hint of sugar and coffee.
My mouth waters just imagining what her perfect, plush mouth would taste like.
And then she looks me dead in the eye and bites her lip.
I crash my mouth against hers.
She teases her tongue against mine and moans into my mouth. My dick throbs.
That moan. That hot little moan.
The things I would do to hear Micah make that sound over and over and over…
Fuck.
She claws at my shirt, and I grip a hand around her waist, pulling her against me.
Micah is desperate and rough with her kiss, and fuck, I love it. It’s just like her personality: feisty, bold, brazen.
With my other hand, I gently grip her chin and tilt her face up, deepening our kiss. Her lips and tongue are just as sweet as I suspected. I hum, savoring her taste.
With each passing second our tongues and mouths get filthier and filthier. Air whooshes out of my lungs. It feels like the floor is tilting beneath my feet.
Holy fuck , this kiss. This kiss is enough to wreck me.
This woman is going to wreck me.
Maybe that’s why I was so attracted to her. Maybe my caveman brain knew that this woman could fucking destroy me with a single kiss.
I breathe in a lungful of that intoxicating vanilla-orange scent she’s wearing. When I’m this close to her, the scent mingles with her natural smell, and fuck, if it’s not the most incredible scent in this entire world.
My head spins as I pull her tighter against me. I can’t get enough of her. Her body, her mouth, her scent…
She whimpers into my mouth before breaking our kiss and pausing to catch her breath. Her hands are fisted into my shirt as she presses the softest, sweetest kiss to my mouth. Then another. And another.
Like she’s showing me how soft and playful she can be.
She gazes up at me, and that’s when I see it: a flash of something warm and raw in those gorgeous mahogany eyes.
Micah is feisty and fierce, but she’s also soft and sweet. I see it right there inside of her.
She hates me, but she’s looking at me like I’m the only one she wants.
I’m dizzy as I stand there, holding her, breathing in lungfuls of her vanilla-orange perfume, her sweet taste lingering on my lips and tongue.
Nothing about this, nothing about us makes sense right now. But I don’t care.
She smells incredible and tastes incredible, and all I want is more of her.
“Fuck…” she murmurs.
I let out a low chuckle. “Yeah. Fuck.”
I cup my hand over her cheek. “Is that all you want, Micah? Just a kiss?”
She shakes her head. “I want more.”