AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I was traveling. Also, if I recall correctly, you’re the one who told me to stay away from you."
"I know what I said, and that’s beside the point. You didn’t even message me."
"You could have called or messaged, too," I point out.
"Why would I do that?" She begins to pull back her hand, but I grip her wrist and hold on. "Don’t do that, Zara. Don’t shut down on me."
"This won’t work, Hunter. We both have too much to lose."
"I, more than you."
She firms her lips. "Oh, you’re going there, are you? Because you’re the man in this relationship—"
"The man who’s standing for elections to be the leader of this country."
"And I’ve built my career as a crisis manager. Someone who can be relied on to defuse tricky media situations for my clients. Imagine if it got out that I was involved with you."
"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Easy for you to say that. You’re not the one whose competence will be questioned."
"Because you’re dating me?"
"Who said anything about dating?" She tugs on her hand again, and this time, I release her.
"I’m saying it. Now. I want to try and see how it would go if we were to formally date."
11
Zara
"Date? Did you just ask me out on a date?"
"It would seem that way, yes," His lips twist, and damn, but that smirk of his is so hot. As is the invisible print of his fingers around my wrist that I can still feel. He forgets about me for months on end… Again. And when we run into each other, he thinks he can pick up from where we left off?
"No," I snap.
He blinks. An expression of surprise forms on his features before he smooths it away. "Okay." He picks up his fork and digs into the bowl of pasta.
"That’s it? Okay?"
He licks the pasta sauce from his fork, and my core clenches. How would it feel to have him stab that tongue inside my cunt.Oh god, you did not just think that. Did not.I stab my fork into my salad and shovel some of the cheese into my mouth.
"You don’t want to date me. I can respect that."
"Hmm." I fork more leaves between my lips, watch as he digs into the pasta with gusto. He chews and the tendons of his throat flex as he swallows. My stomach stutters, and moisture pools between my thighs. Damn it, I should be impervious to him. Especially after how he ignored me for the past few months. In fact, come to think of it, there’s a strange pattern to our meetings. We run into each other, apparently by accident, and the attraction flares. I end up doing something crazy, like kissing him, or he fingers me, or I get a sense of what he’s packing between his legs… And then, he’s gone. Poof. Just like that. It’s almost like he’s showing me how it could be between us, then vanishing so that I’m left wanting. And then I have to stop myself from stalking him online. Except for the headlines he makes when he attends some social event or another with his models. Something which I’m sure he wants me to see so he can make me jealous. I push away the salad.
"Not hungry?"
"Nope."
He finishes off his pasta—which he seems to have inhaled, by the way—and reaches for his chocolate cake. He scoops up a spoonful of the icing and slides it between his lips. He licks the spoon and my core clenches. My toes curl.
I reach for the coffee and take a sip. The bitterness of the brew laced with a tinge of nutty sweetness sinks into my palate. "Mmm." I close my eyes to savor the liquid, letting the warmth envelop me.
When I open my eyelids, he’s watching me with those blue-green eyes of his, which now resemble a stormy sea. His nostrils flare. His jaw is tight. He seems to be trying his best to get control of himself.
Good. Two can play this game, and it’s not one I intend to lose. I take another sip of the coffee, and he draws in a breath. I swallow and his gaze narrows.
