Chapter 17
Summer
I was waiting for him outside the paint shop. Dad said he would be here waiting for me. Why Dad couldn’t send someone else to pick Colton up, I would never know. Being around him created unnecessary butterflies in my stomach and stupid daydreams in my head - daydreams which would never happen in reality. He would never leave his fiancée for me, and my parents would never allow me to date a co-worker.
I was messing around with my music when a loud tap at my window caused me to jump.Colton grinned at me through the heavily tinted windows, that panty-melting grin spreading his cheeks. He strode around the front of the car and paused at the passenger door, pulling at the locked door before he squinted at me through the dark window.
Be still, my struggling to beat heart.
This man – this sinfully-gorgeous man was going to be my undoing.
He was going to make me break every damn rule and go against all of my morals because I needed him.
“Open up already,” he called, still grinning.
I quickly pressed the unlock button and watched him slide into my car, his eyes glancing around, quickly taking everything in. I felt embarrassed when I remembered the empty water bottle and protein bar wrapper from the morning sitting on my floorboard.
“Good morning.” His voice was like warm honey as it washed over me, sending a chill down my spine.
“Morning,” I managed after a moment, choking on my own spit. I quickly cleared my throat and looked away from him, warmth flushing my cheeks.
Putting the car in reverse and backing out of the spot, I gripped the steering wheel tightly. Sweat gathered at the nape of my neck. I hated being analyzed, and I could feel Colton watching my every move with his intense, green eyes.
This instantly brought me back to when my dad taught me how to drive and scrutinized every tiny move I made. I just hoped this would be different. I wanted to impress Colton, show him I was a good driver, make him see I was more of a woman than a girl.
Willing my nerves to disappear, I tried to focus on just the road and not his steady breaths. But to no avail, he was taking up all of my attention.
I stopped at the first red light and adjusted my air, making it blow harder, and then turned the volume up on the radio. Not Your Barbie Girl burst through the surround sound speakers, and he chuckled.
Did it have to be this freaking song of all the ones on my playlist?
“Fitting song for you,” he commented, looking out the window at a motorcycle that pulled up next to us, finally taking his attention off me, I let out a small breath of relief, my skin cooling now that I wasn’t under his heated gaze. “Except you are going to be mine.”
All the air left my body in one sudden exhale, and I choked, gasping for relief.
I snapped my head in his direction, jaw slack. Did he just . . .
A horn from the car behind me brought my attention back to the road and to the now green light. I quickly hit the accelerator, feeling the car tremble beneath me. It shot forward with a purr, and we continued the long drive back to work.
He shouldn’t have this effect on me. I had Dylan, for Christ’s sake. I was supposed to be falling for Dylan. My feelings for Colton were wrong; they were unfair. But when he said things like that, I didn’t care.
“You can’t say things like that,” I whispered, clutching the steering wheel tightly with both hands. My knuckles were turning white against the black wheel. My nails sank into the leather, fighting for some control.
I felt like I was drowning.
“Your heart will belong to me, Summer, and one day, so will your body.” He reached across the console for one of my hands and gently pulled it from the wheel. “I just have to take care of some things first.”
“Like your fiancée?” I ripped my hand from his grip and turned up the volume, not wanting to hear his sexy voice anymore. His voice was my undoing. If he asked me to drive into oncoming traffic, I probably would. And if he asked me to kiss him again, I would be helpless.
He has a fiancée, I tried to remind myself. I have Dylan – sweet Dylan.
Who was I kidding? Dylan was no match for Colton. If it truly came down to picking between the two and there were no other obstacles – like fiancées – Colton would easily win my heart.
But that wasn’t the case. There were other obstacles.
I couldn’t handle his empty promises. He kept telling me he didn’t love her, and yet, he didn’t end their relationship. No. He just expected me to end mine, but I wasn’t that gullible.
I wouldn’t be played by a man ever again, no matter how sexy he was.
“I don’t love her. I’m with her out of obligation.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was it supposed to make me want to break up with Dylan?
“I wish you would stop,” I said quietly, my voice almost not carrying over the sound of the music. “I can’t take this constant cat and mouse game. I have a boyfriend, Colton. You just aren’t worth it,” I lied.
I thanked God that I couldn’t look at him because my eyes were focused on the road ahead of us. I knew if I had to look into his emerald-colored eyes, I would become weak to his empty promises.
“You’re worth it,” he mumbled, lowering my music so that the loud bass of the song wasn’t blaring anymore.
“Stop – please,” I pleaded. I couldn’t keep doing this.
“You don’t know me, Summer. You think I’m the bad guy here, but you don’t understand the situation I’m in.” He looked out the window, his arms flexing as he crossed over his broad chest.
“I might not, but I do know that if someone wanted me to be theirs, they wouldn’t be wasting their time with someone they don’t love. I will never be yours, Colton.” Not while you”re with her. I wanted to add that, but I managed to refrain when I pulled into the parking lot at work.
Shutting the car off, I unfastened my seatbelt, and he did the same. He quickly grabbed my wrist, his warmth seeping into me as a tingle raced up and down my skin at the simple touch. “This isn’t over.”
“This,” I pointed between the two of us and yanked my wrist out of his grip, “doesn’t exist.”
He reached for me again, but I leaned back. “This isn’t over, Summer, and you know it. Fight it all you want, but mark my words – you,” he pointed his finger at me, “will be mine.”
“What makes you so damn sure?” White-hot anger flooded my veins. This man really dared to speak to me like a child.
“Because when I see something that I want, I will stop at nothing to make sure it becomes mine.” He didn’t let me respond before he hopped from the car, closing the door. I never had a chance to get over my shock and tell him no again.
He really thought he had the upper hand here.
Sinking into the plush leather seat, I sucked in a few deep breaths to calm my erratically beating heart.
Being in love with someone you can’t have hurt more than being in love with someone who didn’t love you back. At least if you were in love with someone who didn’t love you back, they knew how you felt.
Colton could never know that my feelings for him poured out of every orifice of my body. I wanted to love him like no woman ever had before.
But he would never know what my love felt like because he didn’t deserve it.
Colton Michaels would never own my heart or my body.