“xXPrettygirl47?” A woman in a rhinestone-drenched gown slid between Katie and me.
“Y-yes?”
“Ever considered a collab? You’d be perfect with Ricki Denatori.”
Katie snorted. “Isn’t he the guy who shoves weird things up his ass—and the girls’ too?”
Graham’s fork clattered against his plate. “Jesus Christ.”
My eyes went wide. Derek half-choked on his drink.
“I don’t do butt stuff,” I blurted.
“Shame. He’s dying to work with you.” She moved on to Graham, placing her hand on his arm. “What about you, big boy? Ready to make your mark in the industry?”
Graham leaned back slowly, eyes hard. “Already got the only job I want—her.” His smirk cut right through her. “No offense, but I don’t get involved with the ass-bandit crowd either.”
The lady left in a huff. I looked to Graham as he swirled his drink in the stout tumbler and mouthed, “Oh, my God!”
He shrugged, then his face went serious, jabbing his finger at my wrist where makeup and silicone bandages hid the scars. “We’re talking about those—later,” he growled.
My gaze snapped to Derek. He shrugged, face flat.Little prick.
I let out a breath that sounded nothing like composure—daggers shot from my gaze, aimed directly at him.
What?I wasn’t allowed to have a breakdown? That was only for big burly men who bottle everything until they implode?Jesus.
I swung back to Graham. “So what—sometimes I need pain as a break from reality, okay? I was hurt and I needed a way to let it out. It happened. It’s over and?—”
“Not here.” Graham cut me off, closing his hand around mine and hauling me up out of my chair, dragging me out the side door.
“Don’t lecture me like you’ve been here for me. I?—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he shoved me back against the rough brick and crushed his mouth over mine. His hands locked on my waist, tugging me in until I could feel every inch of him.
The casino’s noise dulled the second the door clicked shut, leaving just his breath, my racing heart, and that brutal heat between us.
Graham broke the kiss just long enough for his breath to scrape my lips. “Look at me, Maggie. Don’t ever do it again.”
The growl rattled through me, his stare burning into me. Then hecrashed back in, kissing me with a hunger that burned like wildfire, unstoppable.
His command seared into me. My defiant instinct was stolen before my brain could even argue.
I melted against him, ignoring my better judgment. God, I’d missed this. I missed him and the pull that felt inevitable, like gravity—like I was made to fall right there. My lips clung to his, my body already betraying me as I palmed his throbbing bulge behind his zipper.
Still, Hunter’s name flickered at the edge of my mind—but I shoved it down. Just for another second of Graham.
He pressed in harder, the rough brick at my back grounding me as his knee slid between my thighs, claiming space that made my breath catch.
My pulse stuttered?—
—and then something firmer shifted against my thighs, unmistakable even through the layers, the heat of it sending a sharp, electric awareness straight through me.
And I moved—just enough. Just enough that he’d feel what I wanted.
His mouth didn’t leave mine for long. When it did, it dragged down my throat, slow and consuming, before finding its way back like he couldn’t stay away.
Each kiss unraveled something I’d been holding too tight.
