16. Chapter Sixteen - Stolen Peace #2
“You are so stubborn that if I asked, you would refuse. It was easier…” His mouth curved slightly. “And far more rewarding to get it myself.”
My face twisted with embarrassment and irritation. “I should start charging you for manhandling me! That was twice at dinner alone!”
Culver raised a brow. “Have you forgotten that you already groped my cock?”
I knew he was going to hold that over me forever.
I reached out and yanked my phone from his hand.
“It was accidental! What happened to ‘I don’t have to apologize, and my touch wasn’t unwelcome?’”
He chuckled, his eyes bright with recognition.
“It’s not. But I do enjoy teasing you. I find you adorable when you flounder in anger and embarrassment.”
I thumped my foot against the ground, arms still crossed tightly over my chest. His teasing made calming down nearly impossible.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll file a sexual harassment complaint against you?”
Which was, admittedly, harder to threaten while actively blushing.
His eyes flicked up in surprise, but the smile on his lips only widened. Instead of answering, he closed the distance again. The backs of my knees hit the chair before I stumbled down into it. He loomed over me, forcing all the air from my lungs before I could recover properly.
Then he leaned down.
His expression shifted, the teasing softening into something almost affectionate as he looked at me.
The sudden change made my body squirm beneath his gaze.
Culver moved closer, bracing his hands against either side of the chair before dragging it forward until he stood between my spread legs.
I grabbed onto his shoulders without thinking, needing something solid to steady myself.
My nipples were definitely visible through my shirt, and I caught his eyes flicking downward briefly before returning to mine.
“No, I cannot say that I am,” he finally answered, fingers curling around the expensive wood of the chair. “In fact, I know you wouldn’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I growled, tightening my grip on his shoulders, which he barely seemed to notice. “Plus, this is all sexual harassment.”
“It cannot be harassment if you enjoy it.” That felt legally incorrect.
His eyes darkened with something unmistakable. “And want it.”
Fuck. He didn’t know that. And somehow, he absolutely did.
My attention caught briefly on the rosary tucked against his clothing. It shimmered beneath the room’s light, making me wonder if he was religious, if he actually believed in God. The thought lingered quietly in my mind, curious but strangely personal, so I kept it to myself instead of asking.
When I looked around again, I realized everyone had already disappeared from the room, including my own mother.
They had left me here alone with this pervert.
This stupid pervert I was reacting way too strongly toward.
“Do you have any boundaries in your bones?” I grumbled, squirming against his hold while I stayed trapped in the chair.
The answer was clearly no.
He dragged his tongue across his teeth, which looked slightly sharper than I remembered.
“Yes… and no. It depends on the person.”
“So you’re saying you’ve got no boundaries when it comes to me?” I furrowed my brows, and only then did he finally step back.
“Something of the sort.” When he held his hand out, I took it without hesitation.
That seemed to please him, as though I’d just confirmed something he already believed.
“Still, we hardly know each other. And I’m just—” I cut myself off before finishing.
“You keep saying that.” Culver lifted his hand to my cheek. “What is so wrong about this when we are getting to know each other?”
He wasn’t entirely wrong, I guessed. But how long would any of this last? I didn’t have the energy to untangle it anymore. I shook my head and glanced toward the door.
“I gotta go. My ma’s waiting for me.”
“If you need anything,” he said quietly, “anything at all, you call me.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, brushing him off even though the words didn’t fully match how I felt. “Even if something happens, I won’t call. Enjoy your trip. You’ll probably forget I exist after a few days anyway.”
The words slipped out, edged with bitterness I hadn’t realized sat that close to the surface.
Culver didn’t react outwardly, but something in his expression changed. The warmth dimmed slightly, his eyes darkening as though a shadow had passed across them. He didn’t look angry. If anything, he looked as though forgetting me wasn’t even a possibility.
At least, that was what my overthinking brain decided.
Maybe I was completely wrong, and he really would forget me once he was gone. If he did, I’d handle it the way I always handled things. I’d brush it off, move on, and pretend it never mattered in the first place.
Right?
The thought settled heavily in my chest anyway, frightening in a way I didn’t want to examine too closely. Not tonight.
“Bye, Culver,” I said.
“Perhaps I should be asking you not to forget me,” he finally replied, his voice following after me with a knowing smile. “I will be back for you, Ira.”
As I walked away, I kept glancing back at him as though I couldn’t fully stop myself. There was something restrained in the way he stood, as though he were holding himself back from crossing the room in two strides and doing something reckless.
For one reckless second, I wished he would. Wished he’d tell me he wasn’t leaving after all.
Instead, I slipped through the door and closed it behind me, leaning back against the wood while I let out a shaky breath.
What was I doing? Seriously.
By the time I started down the long hallway toward the garage, the emotions had dulled into something heavier and harder to ignore. Fear settled deepest of all. Not fear of Culver himself, but fear that once he left, I’d stop mattering to him entirely.
Which was ridiculous.
I should’ve been relieved to put distance between myself and a walking red flag like Culver Scarbrough. A man with danger sitting quietly behind his eyes, the sort that could ruin a girl without even trying to.
But relief never came. Instead, I kept thinking about him leaving.