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She twisted and pressed her chest closer to him. “It was incredible. I knew you’d be good.”
He opened his eyes, pulled back a bit, and stared at her. She was beautiful. She looked up at him expectantly, and he could hardly force out the words. “Like you said, though, it was just for the show.”
She blinked, but didn’t look away. “I guess so.”
I guess so? He didn’t like the sound of that.
Her teeth chewed at her bottom lip as she waited for him to respond.
He bit back a groan. It was official. He was in hell.
As the car wove through downtown, city lights streaked beyond the windows. Nichole glanced around the vehicle’s luxurious interior, trying to figure out her next move. She’d pushed, but Matt was pushing back, and her confidence in her plan to end up in bed with him was waning. Then her gaze landed on the bar on Matt’s far side, and inspiration struck.
“How about a drink to top off the night? I’m wound up. You want one?”
“No, thank you.” He kept his eyes straight ahead; his voice, flat. “I’ll have a beer at home, kick back, and watch the fight.”
Inwardly groaning, she recognized the kiss off for what it was. He’d watch the fight, undoubtedly because he was pissed off and aggressive entertainment appealed to him. He’d drink a beer and kick back because it smacked of the unromantic. Screw that.
“Well, maybe I will have one.” Rather than give Matt a chance to get the drink for her, she shifted, squashing him against the seat, and crawled across his lap until her knees rested on one side of his thighs, with her hands planted on the other. He didn’t move. Didn’t make a sound, didn’t let out a breath. God help her, she was terrified. But it was too late to turn back now.
She arched her back and reached for a glass—and a horn blared. The limo swerved and ground to a stop, jolting Nichole with enough force to buckle the arm she was using to support herself, sending her flopping across Matt’s lap. Her breasts mash
ed against his denim-covered thigh, while her ass cocked up in a humiliating display. There was no way her short, gauzy skirt still covered her candy red panties. Heat rushed into her cheeks and burned the tips of her ears. No matter what kind of effort she put into her sexy, she always ended up ass over elbow and looked like a fool. That’s why she and Matt would be friends forever—and never friends with benefits.
“Sorry, Matt.” She slunk backwards across his lap, the burn of tears building behind her eyes. He wouldn’t even acknowledge her. She wanted to die, wanted to plaster herself against him and beg him to forget what an idiot she’d just made of herself and promise she’d never try a stunt like that again.
Only through her retreat, her chest grazed his thigh—and encountered the unexpected ridge of his thick, jean-clad cock jutting against the side of her breast. His low, hissing exhale made her halt.
Then the limo was on the move again, and Matt slid his hands under her armpits. His jaw clenched, his muscles working as he blew out a harsh breath through his nose and hauled her into the seat next to him.
Afraid to meet his eyes, she stared at her hands in her lap. This was not the way she’d hoped tonight would play out. “Matt—”
“Don’t. Not a word, Nichole,” he growled. She’d never heard his voice sound so deep, so threatening. God, he was livid.
She closed her eyes and sat still, waiting out the rest of the ride.
Chapter Four
“Get out of the car, Nichole.”
She jerked her head up. She hadn’t even noticed the limo had stopped in front of their place. The driver opened the door and a blast of icy air, as chilly as the tone of Matt’s voice, rushed around her. With her key in one hand and the PR materials in the other, she bolted for the door, praying Matt would let her go to her room without making her face him. She was humiliated and furious with herself for being so stupid, so overly confident, so demented that she believed accosting the man who had been subtly but steadily rejecting her for twelve years would get her anything but more rejection.
As she reached the second stair, the door slammed behind her. She ignored it and kept going. Just as she put her foot on the top step, Matt caught her arm in a savage grasp and shoved her against the wall, sending her bags and binder falling to the floor.
“What are you trying to do? Ruin everything?” he gritted out, his eyes flashing with fury.
She shook her head and fought the tremble in her lips, trying to steady her voice enough to answer. “No,” she cried. “I—I’m sorry.”
She’d never seen him so angry before, and certainly not at her. She’d seen him pushed beyond his limits, and she’d seen him frustrated. But the only time she’d glimpsed anything close to this kind of rage was in college when a frat boy wouldn’t take no for an answer, and Matt happened to drop by just in the nick of time to save her. Then only the campus police were able to save the frat boy from Matt.
She searched his eyes, which glared down at her now, and saw resentment and betrayal in his gaze. “I shouldn’t have tried—”
“No! You shouldn’t have.” His stare narrowed, and he lowered his head. “Is that all this was about? Did you set up this whole emergency just to have me under your thumb while you strutted around half naked?” His voice rasped thick with emotion. “I thought we were friends. Don’t you care at all what happens?”
She owed him the truth. There wasn’t any choice but to tell him.
“I swear my dancer broke his leg. I thought his absence would blow the event, but then you rescued me like you always do. Then I—I thought I saw something. When you were holding me, I thought you wanted to…kiss me. I wanted you to want to me. I’ve wanted it for so long, Matt. I know we’re friends, but I thought that maybe this one time, you’d save me and give me what I’ve always wanted. That you’d help me get past it.” She rushed on, frantic to get the whole explanation out before he cut her off and shut her out. “I was praying that if you wanted me, we could have just one night where we both knew there was nothing more than friendship behind it, but we could be together in this other way. Then it would be out of our systems. Out of my system. I’d be able to sleep again. I’d be able to stop fantasizing. I’m ruining what we have because I can’t control my physical reactions to you. All I can think about is what we would be like together.”
