Chapter 13
Wesley and I stood in awkward silence as we stared at one another. Why it was awkward, I didn’t know. It’d been three months since the…incidents, and we’d been around each other plenty since then, but it didn’t feel like this. It wasn’t this weird, stifling…tension.
Perhaps it was because it was just the two of us…and he was inside my apartment…and despite pushing it as far from my mind as possible—which, in retrospect, wasn’t far at all—it was really hard at that moment to ignore the fact that he was the last guy to give me an orgasm.
Kick him out. Kick him out. Kick him out.
I watched his eyes fall away from mine as he glanced around. “Nice place ya got here…”
My brow furrowed. “Uh…thanks?”
He chuckled as he looked at me again. “Why do you seem wary?”
“Because you’re complimenting my apartment…”
He arched a dark brow. “Is that not allowed?”
“From you? No.”
“And why is that?”
“We’ve well established our hate for one another,” I said. “I thought that was a given.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have to like you to think you have a nice apartment, do I?”
“No…but you’re making small talk, and it’s fucking weird…”
He laughed as he crossed his arms, his green eyes flashing with amusement; the movement caused me to notice how the fabric of his dress shirt tugged against his broad shoulders and arms. “Weird how?”
“Weird because…because it’s just weird!” I snapped.
I watched his lips pull into a smirk. “You seem a little flustered, Morgan.”
“I’m not flustered. Why would I be flustered?”
I knew my response rolled out a little too quickly, and based on the way he tilted his head with a shit-eating grin, it appeared he caught it, too. “Maybe because this is the first time we’ve been alone together since we fucked in the bathroom at The Sandbar.”
My brows slightly rose in surprise at his bluntness, but more so because I hadn’t expected him to mention it.
The truth was, I was flustered, and for that very reason.
It was like my body remembered him but not the fact that we hated him.
Oh, he helped us out last time. I needed it to shut the hell up and stand down because that wasn’t how this worked.
So, I went with the only practical option—deny, deny, deny.
“You don’t have to be so damn crass about it.” My arms tightened their hold across my stomach as I scoffed. “And why would I be flustered about that?”
Wesley’s grin broadened. “I could take a stab in the dark and say it’s because you’re thinking about it right now.”
“Am not,” I answered, and once again, it was a little too quickly.
“Oh?” He took a step toward me.
I took a step back. “Yeah…I’m not. Thinking about it, I mean.”
“Ya know…I fell right back into my slump after that last time with you.”
“Sucks to be you.”
“And you?” He took another step toward me.
I took another step back, and my ass bumped against the counter. “What about me?”
“Did you officially get out of your slump?”
“That’s none of your damn business,” I chided.
“So, that would be a no,” he countered, taking another step to bring himself directly in front of me, invading my space. “And it’s been, what? Three months?” He smirked when I let out an annoyed breath that told him he was right. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Not you,” I quipped, and he chuckled darkly as he held my stare. “We said it wasn’t going to happen again.”
“You said it wasn’t going to happen again. I never actually said anything of the sort.”
“You silently agreed, and you know it.”
“Even if I did…I think we’re allowed to retract that statement.”
“No, we aren’t.”
“Yes, we are,” he said more assertively. I let out another frustrated breath…frustrated because I was actually starting to think about it. “We’re two grown-ass adults. We can do whatever the hell we want. Why deny ourselves something that feels good if we both want it?”
No. Knock it off. Shut it down. “Feeling good and getting a job done are two different things. And do not presume to know what I want.”
He huffed out a laugh, feigning offense. “Are you saying I didn’t make you feel good before?”
“I’m saying they were both quickies that got the job done.”
“Damn. I didn’t realize you were such a fucking princess with high expectations during impulsive quickies.”
“I’m not a princess,” I spat. “I don’t have high expectations. I’m simply saying they served their purpose.”
“You’re sure acting like a princess. And saying they offered nothing beyond merely getting a job done sounds like a challenge to me.”
“Take it as you will,” I said with a casual shrug of my shoulders.
He offered me a roguish grin. “Well, I’m up for said challenge.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What’s wrong? Afraid you might enjoy it more than you think you should, Princess?” he taunted with a grin.
“No. We said not again. And regardless…” I turned toward the counter, putting my back to him so I wouldn’t have to keep looking at his piercing green eyes and stupid smirk. “I have plans tonight.”
“With?”
“Callie. We’re having a movie night.”
“So cancel it.”
“No,” I scoffed through a laugh.
“Come on.”
“No.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“No,” I repeated more sternly.
“It’s the perfect opportunity.”
“Perfect opportunity for what?”
“Not to worry about just ‘getting the job done,’” he said. “We’re in your space. There’s no one else here to worry about, so no interruptions. We can both get a release we need, and we have plenty of time to make sure we enjoy the hell out of it.”
My jaw tensed in irritation over his badgering and goading, but I was also irritated with myself because his badgering and goading were actually starting to work.
Get a release.
No interruptions.
Enjoy the hell out of it.
I felt him step up behind me, brushing his chest against my back, and I slightly stiffened. And when that smoky amber and citrus scent enveloped me, I closed my eyes, feeling my willpower start to crumble. Why did he have to smell so damn good?
He leaned forward, brushing his lips against the shell of my ear. “Call Callie and cancel,” he whispered.
“I can’t.”
“You can.” He reached around me and picked up my phone from the counter. “Unlock it,” he said with an edge of command. And for some stupid reason I couldn’t figure out, I actually listened. “Good. Now, call her.”
I let out a breath, feeling my body thrumming with a need that I hated he, of all people, stirred to life, but I couldn’t shut it off now.
A shuddered breath escaped me, and I took my phone and pulled up my contacts.
I closed my eyes, unable to believe what I was about to do…
then I tapped the name before lifting the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” I said when Callie answered, trying to sound casual, but that was proving difficult when I felt Wesley’s hand slip under the hem of my shirt and splay against my stomach.
My breath hitched, and I tensed, betraying the need I was still trying to keep hidden despite making this phone call and the reason why.
“I, uh…about movie night. Can you—can you take a rain check?”
I could feel the way his lips stretched into a smirk as they brushed against my neck, and then I felt his breath on my skin when he let out a whisper of a laugh.
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
Wesley’s mouth latched onto my neck and sucked. “O-Oh, yeah,” I stuttered, trying to shove him off, but he tightened his hold around me. “Something, uh…something just came up.” He pressed his hips against my ass, and I could feel how hard he was already. Something came up, alright.
“Yeah, no big deal,” Callie said on the other end of the phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, tomorrow. For sure.”
I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the counter just as Wesley pulled away from my neck. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
“Shut up,” I breathed.
“Don’t worry…” He spun me to face him and pulled me flush against his chest. “I’m about to make it worth it, Princess.”
“Stop calling me that,” I retorted harshly.
He smirked. “No, I don’t think I will.”
Wesley’s lips crashed against mine, and that need he’d stirred up exploded through my veins like a bursting dam. I tried to mentally take a step back to ask myself what the hell I was doing, but my body wasn’t having any of it. “Just go with it,” it seemed to whisper.
So I did.
I kissed him back, feeling his tongue slip between my lips and plunge into my mouth as my heart slammed against my chest. And despite having all the time and privacy in the world this time around, the kiss seemed just as desperate as the times before—teeth and tongues, rough and messy.
And I was too caught up to notice the other times, but I realized then that the way he kissed me, it was like he was trying to assert some kind of dominance, and I was futilely trying to fight against it.
Futilely because the truth was, I was a sucker for when a man took control.
Wesley’s fingers dug into my hips as he pulled away, just enough to breathe against my lips, “I take it your bedroom is down that hall?”
My chest rose and fell with each heavy breath I took, and I simply nodded in response, not trusting my voice enough to not come out as needy as I knew it probably would.
He spun me away from the counter, and his lips were back on mine as he walked me backward down the hall.
My impatient hands tugged his white dress shirt free from the waistband of his pants before my fingers fumbled against the buttons.
He bypassed the closed door to the spare room that was my home office and headed straight to the opened door of my bedroom like he knew exactly where he was going.
As soon as we stepped over the threshold, he inhaled a deep breath through his nose just as I got to the last button, and his shirt fell open. “That fucking scent is going to be the death of me,” he growled.
“What scent?”
“Rose.”