Greta backed away. “I think I’ll just go.”
“You don’t have to leave, Greta. I’m just grabbing their food and going.”
Greta continued out the door anyway.
Griffin gripped my upper arm and pulled me around to face him. “You are the biggest pain in the ass. You could’ve just told me where the kids were.”
I glared up at him. “And you could’ve just asked. Instead, you sat there, being condescending and judgmental right off the bat. How do you even get that much stick up your ass so early in the day?”
Grabbing my other arm, Griffin lightly shook me. “You have got to be the least professional person I’ve ever hired. Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?”
“I’m professional when I’m treated professionally.”
He pulled me closer, his fingers tight on my arms, his glare hard. “I should fire you. I should throw you out of here on your ass and find someone who has an ounce of respect for me.”
I bared my teeth at him. “Do it. Fire me. Find someone who lets you walk all over them and who doesn’t mind being treated like shit. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to find someone who can even stomach you in the process.”
Growling, he jerked me into his chest and slammed his mouth over mine. His kiss was punishing and hard, his anger coming through clear. I lashed out at him, hitting him and twisting my hips to try and kick him, but he wrapped both of his big arms around me and crushed me against his hard body. He growled into my mouth and then slid his tongue over mine.
Griffin tasted like expensive coffee and chocolate. The chocolate caught me off guard, and I wanted to know why the rule-following asshole had snacked on chocolate before breakfast. His kiss turned into something marginally gentler as he tasted me. Still fierce, his palms stretched out across my back, holding me in place as he kissed me like it was do or die. There was none of the teasing that Zeke did. It was just a devouring kiss that sucked me in and wouldn’t let me go.
I didn’t know when I’d stopped fighting against him and started clutching at his shoulders, but I kissed him back just as fiercely and tried to get even closer to him. I wanted more ofhis chocolate taste, and I wanted to suck in more of the sensual smell of him. I wanted to climb him and tangle myself up in him.
Griffin held me so tightly that I couldn’t move like I wanted; I couldn’t take more than he was giving me. He was in control, and I was being man-handled by the man I’d just insulted in a big way. His hand moved up and grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling my head back enough to break the kiss and stare down at me.
His eyes were the color of a lost forest, deep at night, as they moved over my face. His lips were damp and swollen from the kiss, but it was his eyes that showed the effect I’d had on him. Dark and daring, they revealed the beast I’d originally thought he was, hiding just under the surface of the handsome prince.
“Your temper gets you in trouble a lot, doesn’t it?” Stepping away from me and adjusting himself, he looked around the kitchen like he was seeing it for the first time. “Behave, Autumn.”
I snarled at him, all sexy feelings vanished. Most of them, anyway. Okay, some of them. “Youbehave, Griffin.”
“I’m trying to.” He took a step closer again and gently cupped my jaw. “This mouth of yours makes it hard, though.”
I sighed as he turned and walked away, his heavy footsteps sounding farther and farther away as he went. Sinking against the cabinets behind me, I covered my face in my hands and groaned. What the fuck was that? Why had I allowed him to kiss me? Why had I liked it so much?
Greta swept back into the kitchen, a wide smile on her face. “Well. I’d say that is a new way of handling Griff. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anyone do it quick like that before.”
I gasped. “I didn’t kiss him! He kissed me!”
Pausing and then laughing, Greta went back through the door to the staff dining room. “He kissed her!”
“You didn’t see?” I sighed when she shook her head. “And I just told you. Great.”
“Don’t worry, Autumn. We won’t tell anyone.” She grinned. “Jeremiah and I are both very interested in how this goes. Griff has been so cranky for so long. It’s nice to see someone get a different mood from him.”
I grabbed the tray of food and shook my head. “That never happened. Any of it.”
Chapter 13
***Autumn***
I’d had sex with two of the Phoenix brothers and made out with the third one. That was fine. Everything was fine. Nothing weird was going on under their roof at all. It was probably completely normal for the nanny to be involved in one way or another with almost all of the men in the house. I wasn’t the whore that Stacy had called me. Not even a little bit.
Groaning, I pushed off the side of the oversized black SUV that Griffin was sending the kids and me away in. It was apparently visitation day with Stacy, something Griffin hadn’t thought pertinent to mention to me while kissing my face off. I hadn’t known anything until Con showed up and took Grace. He was taking her to see her mom for the day, and I was taking Caroline and Jones to see theirs.
I wanted to strangle Griffin. It was taking every ounce of self-control I had to not quit right then and there. I didn’t want to come face to face with Stacy again. She was mean and hurtful. Especially when she called me names that I was internally struggling with. I really didn’t want to see her just hours after sucking face with her ex-husband. Oh, why had I let that happen?
I turned into the side of the car and tapped my head against the tinted windows. “You fucking idiot, Autumn.”
