Dropping my arms down to my sides, I turned toward the door and grabbed the handle. "Then I'm not talking to you." I tugged hard, belatedly remembering that he'd locked it. But when I went to turn the deadbolt, he closed his hand over mine and pulled my arm down. I stiffened when I felt him against my back, so close I could feel the heat radiating from him and the hard ridge of his cock against my upper ass.
"I just want to talk," he told me, his voice low and rough. "I don't date customers."
Yes, yes. He'd told me this before, and I sincerely doubted it. He just didn’t want to dateme.
Pushing aside the hurt of that truth, I tried to think of a way to escape this conversation. However, without exposing my magical abilities, I didn't have much of a choice but to hear him out. Taking a step to the side, I eased around him and put some distance between us, forcing him to turn his back to the door so he could face me.
"Alright," I told him, keeping my eyes on his handsome face and not on the smooth, slick chest muscles rising and falling with his every breath. "Then talk."
Brogan stared at me for a few seconds, then closed the distance I'd put between us as though he couldn't help himself. I held my ground, tilting my chin up defiantly when he stopped mere inches from me. The pleasant, musky scent of body oil and male filled my nostrils.
"You've been coming here for weeks now," he said. "Watching me. Asking questions." His voice was low, almost a growl. "You've flirted with me, lied to me, laughed at me, forced your company on me, and made me crazy thinking about…" He trailed off.
“About?” I interrupted. I really wanted to hear the rest of that thought.
Without answering me, he took a breath and regrouped. "I think it's about time you were honest with me. Just this once. Stop with the games and tell me, darlin', what is it you really want to know?"
I swallowed hard and tried to slow my heartbeat. I didn't trust this. If I told him about my suspicions, he'd laugh at me. Or kill me. He wasn't ready for honesty yet. And until he was, I would continue to dance around the subject until I had something more solid to base my argument on. "I told you. I'm just curious about you and what you do for a living. And…I like you."
He smiled at that, leaning closer, his breath hot against my ear. "Curious about what? Exactly? The club? The dancing? The women?" His lips brushed the shell of my ear as he spoke. "Because, somehow, you've managed to take up hours of my time without telling me a goddamn thing about yourself." He inhaled, smelling my hair. "And I'm beginning to think it's more than just a crush bringing you here."
I shivered, my body responding to his proximity even as my mind screamed at me to put some distance between us. It took me three times to get the words past my tongue, which suddenly felt way too thick in my mouth. "I don't know what you're talking about. And I told you, it's not a crush."
Brogan chuckled softly. "Don't play coy with me, darlin'. You're not like the other women who come here. You're not here for the show." His hand came up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip. "At least not entirely. So why don't you tell me the truth?"
I jerked my face away from his touch. "I am telling you the truth. I find this place...the club, the people…you," I admitted, adding a grain of truth, "intriguing. That's all."
"Intriguing?" He arched a brow. "I call it stalking."
My eyes widened. "I never?—"
"You did." He cut me off. "But that's okay. I honestly don't mind that much."
I glared up at him. "I'm not stalking you."
"No?" He almost looked disappointed.
"No," I insisted. "I don't even know where you live."
"Should I tell you so you can stalk me properly?"
"No!" I nearly shouted before my curiosity got the better of me.Dios mío! I couldn't keep up with the different moods of this man. After nights of giving me the cold shoulder, then losing patience and dragging me down the hall, he was back to being the arrogant tease I'd met that first night.
He cocked his head, thosemagníficoeyes seeing way more than they should. "Should we just fuck so we can both get on with our lives?"
For a few seconds, I could only blink at him. The gall of this man. "That's not what I want from you."
Isn’t it?An evil voice inside of me asked.
"That's what you’re telling me, darlin', but I happen to know you're lying."
"You don't know any such thing."
The smile that slowly spread across his face this time was downright sinful. "Then tell me why your heart's pounding so damn fast, making your blood race through your veins? It's not fear." He shook his head. "Oh no, you're not scared of me." His voice lowered a few octaves. "You're wet for me. I can smell it."
All I could do was stare up at this devil standing in front of me. Everything he'd just said was true. I couldn't control my reaction to him, but it wasn't anything I would admit out loud. Wait…"How do you know my blood is racing? Or what my desire smells like without your face between my thighs?"
My forthright words seemed to take him aback for a few brief seconds as his smug expression froze on his face.
