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“You going to give me something else to hold on to?”
He was right. Even my best friends had no idea what was going on in my life. No idea of what had gone on. Even Amy didn’t know the extent of my past and how badly it affected me. It wasn’t their fault. I knew they cared. I just couldn’t admit to certain things, past or present. And the reason was simple: What if they didn’t believe me? It was a risk I couldn’t take. Because it’d break my heart. But Leo? He didn’t know the details of my life, and he didn’t need to.
Yet somehow he saw me. Tapped into a part of me that was long neglected and I both liked and hated him for it. While pieces of his praise and trust made me feel stronger, it also made me feel weaker. Made me nervous, because he was slowly shifting into something I didn’t want to lose and someone I didn’t want to disappoint.
“You caught me on a bad night when you saw me at the bar,” I said softly.
He cupped my hip and brushed his thumb along my stomach. “I didn’t think it was so bad . . . aside from your leaving.”
I looked up at him because his tone was gruff but his eyes were haunted. “What happened in Greece?”
He stared at me for a long moment, then finally said, “Something I had no control over and no way to fix.”
My chest stung as I looked in his eyes and gently gripped the lapel of his tux. “I understand the feeling.”
His steady stare ate me up like an undertow, sucking me into its depths. He leaned in, but before his lips touched mine, he stopped.
My breath caught because the thought of him pulling away was too much to bear, especially when I wanted to wipe that sad look off his face. I grabbed his lapel tighter and tugged him until his mouth mashed against mine.
His hand on my waist tightened and pulled me closer. Parting my lips, I licked the seam of his mouth and he groaned, instantly meeting my attentions with his. Plunging deep, he drank me down.
I reached up and cupped his face, causing my strapless dress to shift a little lower. I needed to kiss him, touch him, just for a second. Because in this moment, we were just two people. Like we were the day I met him. So I lifted to my tiptoes and slung one arm around his shoulders to get closer.
He devoured my mouth, his big hands gripping my ass and pressing me farther into him. I didn’t care about anything but feeling him. It was like my brain shut out all thoughts except for his heat. His hold. His mouth. Just Leo. That was all I could understand in that moment.
His erection pressed against my stomach and I arched into it, subtly grinding my hips. The slinky silk of my dress came down just a bit more from the movement.
It wasn’t until he pulled away slightly and looked at me with raw lust that I realized what had happened.
“Fuck, you’re like a piece of wicked fruit tempting me,” he rasped, looking me in the eyes, then trailing lower to take in my breasts.
My dress had come down just enough to show a hint of my nipples. Before I could back away and tug it up, Leo leaned in and ran his tongue along one breast.
Forget moving away. I moaned and wished so hard he’d keep going. The pleasure that shot through me wasn’t expected, but the dose was so sharp I felt it all the way to my throbbing core.
I cupped his hard cock through his pants, ready to take it out when a g
ust of cold breeze hit me and I remembered where I was. Where we were. Out on a terrace at a major function, where we could be seen at any time.
I pushed myself away from him and instantly righted my dress.
“T-that was . . .” I tugged once more, making sure I was fully covered.
“Tasty,” Leo finished, smiling.
I shot him a look. He was all swagger, and grinning in my direction like he’d just declared victory in some war between us. In a way he had. I’d been weak and gave in to something that was—
“Unprofessional.”
With a quick assessment of my hair, I turned and headed back toward the party inside. It wasn’t lost on me that this was the second time I’d walked away from Leo. But just like the first, I knew a bad idea when I saw it, and there was nothing good that could have come from this. From us.
Because whenever it came to me, typically happiness had nowhere to bloom.
Chapter Ten
I’m sorry, you want me to do what?” I paused midswipe on my tablet and looked up at Leo.
“I want you to set up dates for me with the women on this list.” Leo handed me a typed list of women’s names and contact information. A quick chill of confusion pricked my skin. Surely he wasn’t serious.
