Page 29

“I’m only twenty-three, dickhead.”

“Twenty-three and never been kissed.”

I balk at that and immediately regret rising to the bait. “Of course I have.”

Fionn touches two fingers to his lower lip, considering me with a patience that makes my skin heat. “Not by a man who knows what to do with your bratty mouth.”

“Right, and you’d know what to do?” I laugh under my breath.

“I’d have you quiet in under a minute.”

My laugh dies before I can stop it.

A ghost of a smile plays on his lips. “That was quicker than I thought.”

I roll my eyes even though my pulse is still making a fool of me. “Don’t get excited. I go quiet before I cause damage, too.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because ya keep pushing.”

“And yet here I am, undamaged.” He shrugs. “All that talk, Sera.”

Heat snaps through my chest, and I close the distance between us. “Don’t test me. As for my best friend, you better not screw her around or try to hurt her. Or I swear to fuck⁠—”

His hand closes around my throat before I finish speaking, and he drives me backward into the wall with his solid chest against mine and his thumb resting beneath my jaw.

“Don’t threaten me.”

“I’ll do more than threaten.”

I shove against him, but he has my head tilted back and the hard line of his dick digging into my hip. His warning would be a lot more convincing if his body wasn’t betraying him too.

“She’s my fiancée,” he says, his lowered voice rumbling right through my chest. “Not your excuse to keep putting yourself in my way.”

When I push harder, he widens his stance by a fraction.

“Keep your distance, Sera. That’s the only warning you’ll get.”

My breath comes faster as I shove against him again.

“For a man who claims to want distance, you’re too fucking close,” I bite out. “Let go.”

His thumb stills against my throat.

For one breath, he makes me wait.

Then his hand opens, and he steps back before I can decide whether I hate his obedience more than his touch.

I smooth my dress over my hips, check the fall of my hair in the gilt mirror beside us, and ball my hands when they lower to hide how my hands shake.

“Oh, by the way, Fionn,” I say over my shoulder, walking away. “Eilish and I are close, and you won’t get in the way of that. You’re the one who needs to fuck off.”

When I glance back, he’s standing where he let me go, jacket smooth, tie straight, one hand adjusting his cuff, every inch of him restored to Harrington composure except for the way he’s watching me.

His dark eyes follow my every step. The distance between us should come as a relief, but Fionn Vaughn Harrington is tied to my best friend now, his name wrapped around her future as tightly as his hand was around my throat.

As long as Eilish stays at his side, I’ll never be far enough away from him to be safe from this dreadful attraction.