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Her impending words were silenced by his mouth crashing down upon hers. He kissed her with such force it stole her breath. His tongue was downright menacing, thrusting in and out of her mouth much like his cock would thrust in and out of her body and she clung to him, a whimper escaping when he broke the kiss.
“If you can walk away from me after that then you’re a much stronger person than I am.” He gazed down at her, dipping low so his forehead pressed against hers. She stared up into his eyes and saw the passion blazing in their golden depths.
“Where—where will we go?” Her voice sounded small, shaky and she swallowed, wishing for some sort of control. Unable to find any when he was near.
“I don’t know.” He cleared his throat, his gaze beseeching. “Anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
His words tore at her heart, making her weak, making her wish for something he wouldn’t give.
It was hard to remember that they were merely caught up in a passionate affair when he said things like that. When he looked at her as if she might mean something to him.
“Justin.” She disentangled herself from his embrace and stood taller, caught the flash of disappointment in his eyes when she pulled away. They needed to get a grip, she needed some distance if she was going to speak to him like a civilized, rational person. “We can’t do this here. Not now.”
“Why not?” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it and the urge to smooth her fingers through it was almost overpowering.
“You said so yourself you’re one of their biggest donors. Aren’t they doing a presentation soon?” How she missed his name on the gala announcement, she had no clue. Of course, she never really saw one since she’d only heard about the benefit from Zoe.
If she’d known Justin would be here she probably wouldn’t have come. It was too hard, too painful to be so close to him and not be able to touch him, indulge in him. They had an appearance to keep up and behaving like two slobbering teenagers was not the image they wanted to portray.
Plus, she couldn’t let Zoe know anything. It was too risky, having her so close.
He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pants’ pockets. His stance reminded her of a petulant little boy who didn’t get his way. “Yeah I guess so.”
“Well, we can’t sneak off before then, right? You should go back inside.” She lifted her chin, hoping like hell she looked strong, determined. She felt anything but. “Maybe we could meet...later.”
“We’re definitely going to meet later.” He grabbed her again, planting a drugging kiss to her lips before he pushed her away. His entire body was tense, his jaw tight and she wanted to go to him and offer him comfort.
Offer him her body.
But not yet. Soon.
“Yes.” She nodded, wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill. It wasn’t good enough, not when she had his hot, hard body so close. “Okay.”
Justin glanced at his watch then looked at her. “It’s almost nine now. I want you to meet me in the hotel lobby at eleven.”
“The hotel lobby?” Where everyone could see them? She shook her head. “That’s too public, don’t you think?”
“What, are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” His brows furrowed and he stared at her in disbelief.
Oh, dear. This was a tough situation. One she wasn’t sure how to handle. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she squared her shoulders. “Of course not. I just figured you’d want to be more discreet, am I right?”
He still watched her but he didn’t say a word. His eyes grew colder with every passing second that she didn’t explain herself.
“You want the local media to get wind of this? Of us? And have them start asking you questions like who I am and what I mean to you? I know you’re a private person, Justin, and I know you don’t like to deal with any media intrusion. Well, I’m a private person too and I don’t want to deal with it either.”
His expression slowly cleared and he shook his head though he still didn’t look pleased. “I guess you’re right. Fine, you want discreet, go to the concierge desk in the lobby at eleven and give them your name. They’ll tell you what to do from there.”
Justin stalked away without waiting for her reply. He didn’t even bother looking back and she watched him go. Had she hurt his feelings? Made him feel bad when she said she didn’t want to be seen with him?
If she’d been doing something else, anything else but writing those articles, she’d be begging him to escort her everywhere. She’d be proud to be on the arm of one of the most spectacular baseball players of his time. A man still revered in this city, in his profession.
Not that his celebrity status was the reason she was with him. Justin was an amazing man. Amazing in bed and so sweet to her, passionate, talented and from what she’d just learned about the charity event, generous.
But she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t risk getting caught. Not yet, at least. It was too dangerous and if Zoe found out, their relationship would be dead in the water. He’d hate her for what she did, writing those articles about their most personal moments. For how she lied to him.
And the very last thing she wanted was for him to hate her.
Stephanie slowly walked back into the ballroom, glancing about the room for Justin. She spotted him near the stage, standing with a group of people getting his photo taken. He was smiling, seemingly jovial but she could see even from halfway across the room his jaw was still tight and his eyes were dim.
