There it was.
Whatever he was running—or maybe hiding—from. The sadness that he masked from everyone. Something had happened in his life that changed everything. The truth was right there in his eyes.
“Stetson—” I attempted to comfort him or at least show him that I was there for him, but his name was the only thing I managed to get out before I felt his mouth on mine.
Chapter Fifteen
Everything went still. My thoughts. The room. The world.
All of it.
The pressure of his lips on mine wasn’t enough; I wanted more. I pushed my tongue inside his mouth, eagerly greeted by his. The tickle of his mustache was a sensation I wasn’t ready for, the prickle on my upper lip firing up the need inside of me onto all cylinders.
Confusion plagued my rampant thoughts. I shouldn’t do this. It was going to end badly, but now that my mouth was consumed by Stetson’s, the last thing I wanted to do was stop kissing him.
He grabbed my body, pulling me on top of him. I straddled his lap, the feeling of his body underneath mine only making me desperate for more.
One of his hands lingered under my chin while the other slid down my face, leaving traces of sparks in its wake. My body instinctively leaned into his touch, hyperaware of his every movement, finding it nearly impossible to pull away.
You’re the only one I can trust to be professional about it.Donna’s voice echoed through my head like she’d been speaking through a megaphone.
Shit.
And most importantly, I want this one to be forher.Stetson’s voice rallied right behind Donna’s.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I used my hands to push him away while I obnoxiously shook my head no.
“I can’t,” I breathed, wiping my lips with back of my hand as I abruptly stood from the couch.
“Why?” he asked, calmly grabbing his tea from off the table in front of him as if we weren’t just in the middle of an intense makeout session. He may have been used to shit like this, but I wasn’t, and no matter how many times he’d done this, I really couldn’t imagine it had ever felt like that.
“Why?” I repeated his question. “Where should I start? How about the fact that I’m not young, blonde, and sparkly?” I hissed, my words laced with venom.
“Huh?” he asked. “What does that even mean?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see the article online about you and Delilah…”
“Jesus. What did I tell you about believing everything you read?” he huffed. “I don’t read any of those damn articles, and neither should you.”
“I didn’t have to read the article, considering I saw the situation unfolding with my own two eyes.”
“You saw what you wanted to see. Did the article mention that I ran away from Delilah and after someone else? How, after that someone else left me in the parking lot, I got myself an Uber and went home alone, because if she wasn’t coming home with me then no one was?” His crinkled eyes and firm jaw proved to be just another distraction. “I didn’t think so.”
I wanted to rebut his comment, but there was nothing to say unless I was going to share with him that my stomach was currently doing somersaults knowing he’d gone home solo.
“That was only the first reason this,” I said, and pointed to him, “is a bad idea. There’s a handful of others, starting with the fact that I’m also supposed to be working on an article at this very moment and that’s not happening.”
“Sure, it is. You’re just getting to know your subject. The things that really get him going.” His eyes widened as he chuckled. His laugh was almost as melodious as his singing.
If I wasn’t trying to be serious, I would’ve let myself enjoy the sound of it a bit more. “That’s not funny, Stetson. This is serious. I just got this job, and I can’t risk losing it.”
His gaze locked in on me. “I would never let whatever this is interfere with the article, with your job.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Well, that would be a little tricky, now wouldn’t it? I mean, the whole sleeping with the client thing is the number one no-no.”
“Who ever said anything about sleeping with anyone? But go on.” He grinned. “I’m all ears.”
