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I fought the urge to back up when he came so close that his chest brushed mine. The pencil case pushed into the desk behind me, and I tensed.
“Ever heard of personal space?” I muttered, now trapped between the desk and his hard, hot body.
He was so tall, the tallest of all the Hellions, and he bent his neck at a stiff angle to stare right into my eyes. I hadn’t been alone with the defenseman in months. My path didn’t often cross with my brother’s best friend all that much. I wasn’t sure if he went out of his way to avoid me, or if it just happened naturally, like we were two magnets designed to repel each other.
His eyes were a rich molten silver today. “I could say the same to you, Cinderella.”
“It’s my job to invade your personal space and clean it. Also, don’t call me that,” I ground out.
“What? You don’t like Cinderella? Isn’t that what you are?”
Before I could turn my head, he grabbed a hanging lock of my hair and twisted it around his finger. It didn’t quite hurt, but there was something vaguely threatening about it. As if he’d like to sink his hand into my ponytail and hold me down. My breath caught in my chest at the thought.
“Except she had to clean up like a servant after her own family, and you’re not my family,” I pointed out.
He nodded slowly. A bead of water slid down his temple, cascading down the plane of his sharp cheekbone.
“I’m well aware, believe me.” His tone was cryptic.
I couldn’t get a read on him. His eyes fixed over my shoulder, on the letter. It was obvious I’d been reading it, since the previously discarded ball of trash was now smoothed out and sitting on his desk.
Beckett tutted. “And here I thought you were just cleaning? Snooping on me, were you, Tiny? I hope I don’t have to report your employee misconduct to the housekeeper. Mrs. Linton already hates you. It’ll look bad for your mother, too, I suppose.”
I was well aware of that fact. It was also a reminder of the first day we’d met, as the housekeeper had disliked me ever since that day.Just like Beckett. I bristled, hating how this asshole could casually threaten my mother’s livelihood like it was nothing. Itwasnothing to him, after all. The amount of money my mom made cleaning his house was less than Beckett spent on organic protein shakes in a week. Like always, his spoiled, rich-boy privilege raised my hackles.
“Embarrassed for someone to know you got terrible grades and had to buy your way into college with your daddy’s money?” I fell easily into the same dynamic we’d always had.
“And you’re valedictorian?” Beckett sneered back.
I flushed. Lily was the smartest girl in our grade, but I could hold my own. Working as much as I did seriously cut into my study time, but I made it work.
“Sure, let’s compare us. I got into college off my own back, despite not having a single tutor, up-to-date textbook, or SAT prep course. I’d be embarrassed, too, if I had all that and still failed. I guess it’s good that you’re decent at hockey. Plenty of average white dudes have lived perfectly fine lives just being dumb jocks.”
Beckett’s eyes were furious. He’d discarded his jaded mask somewhere between me pointing out his privilege and calling him a dumb jock. A flash of vindication swept through me, just before he stepped forward again and pressed hard against me. The back of the desk bit into my ass, and my front was plastered against his. His body was solid as a goddamn rock. There wasn’t an inch of give anywhere. He almost never dropped his bored, rich asshole act. I’d never seen this side of him in public, only here in the halls of this house, usually when he forgot the staff were here.
“Be careful, Cinderella. You sound jealous, and that’s not a good look. The truth is that my money will take me further in this life than your precious pride will take you. I’ll never kneel to anyone, I’ll never have to…while you’re already down on your hands and knees, scrubbing my bathroom floor.”
Painful anger and hurt filled my vision. My hand was flying toward his face before I could stop it. It never landed. He snatched my wrist before I could make contact and held it poised in the air, inches from his skin.
“Cleaning someone’s toilets on my hands and knees would be more honest work than you’ll ever be capable of. I’d rather do that for a job for the rest of my life than be like you.”
“And what is that?”
Don’t say it.“An arrogant asshole who only cares about himself and trying to impress his daddy. Did Daddy Anderson ever pay you any attention in the end? You might be rich as fuck, but you’re penniless in all the ways that matter.”
Beckett’s gray eyes were mesmerizing, turning darker by the second. His anger swirled around us both. It was so thick it threatened to choke me. There was nothing passive or absent about his emotions today.
“Look how brave you are, Tiny. Haven’t you forgotten something? Your brother isn’t here to protect you anymore, so you should watch your mouth.”
I scoffed. “Why? What are you going to do? Even if he’s not here right now, he’s still your best friend. You won’t do anything to upset him. He’ll still come home one day. You’re all talk, Anderson, and we both know it. You might have a hard-on for making my life difficult, but you’re completely forbidden from carrying out your petty little plans…impotent.”
A muscle ticked wildly in Beckett’s jaw. It was always like this between us. Antagonistic. The air filled with undiluted tension, like an overfilled balloon begging to burst.
Then he did something I’d never forget for the rest of my life. He tugged my hand toward his face. Then he licked a long, hot stripe up my palm, from my pulse to the tip of my middle finger, before biting the end. I gasped and yanked my hand away. The place where his strong, hot tongue had touched my innocent skin felt like it was throbbing.
My cheeks burned with blood. My eyes were riveted to Beckett’s. I felt dizzy. It was all too much. The smell of his clean soap and the musk that was Beckett, better than a designer fragrance. How close he was standing, and the way all I could see was him. He overwhelmed my senses and pushed reason out of my head. My body was a traitor. My nipples were hard, taut in my bra. My skin felt tight like it was too small.
No one touched me like that. My brother didn’t allow it. Especially not Beckett. We’d been nothing but enemies since the day we’d met, before he’d even been friends with my brother. Over the years, our antagonism had only grown. Was this a new tactic to torture me with? Befuddling my virgin mind with his outrageous statements? It had to be, because one thing I knew for sure…I was off-limits to Beckett Anderson, if he valued his life and his relationship with my brother.
