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Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he forced his clenched hand to straighten out and rest against his thigh. “Then we don’t need to discuss it any further.”
I curled my fingers around the edge of his lapel and tugged him off balance. I knew it had only worked because he wasn’t expecting it. When his face was close enough, I quickly kissed his cheek. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”
He cleared his throat, his face slanting toward me. His lips, only millimeters away from mine. My heart jumped and pounded with joy. Kiss me, I wanted to whisper but dared not to move or react, too afraid to break the spell of the moment. The tension arced between us, and for once, I didn’t doubt he felt it too.
All too soon, he pulled away, his expression once again a hard mask. “It’s just clothes.”
Right. No more kisses. He’d told me once it had been a mistake. “I’ll pay you?—”
He cut me off. “You will do no such thing. Consider it part of your end-of-year bonus.”
I shook my head. “Jareth… ”
He moved around me and headed into the bedroom. His quick exit didn’t escape my notice. Once again, he wasn’t going to acknowledge the attraction between us.
“I’ll order us dinner. How much time do you need to get ready?” He’d already reached the door to the hallway.
I puffed out a breath of frustration before responding. “I’d like to take a shower first. Maybe thirty minutes?” I entered the bedroom, my heart breaking at how he was pushing me away, closing himself off from me.
“I’ll be sure to have dinner ready by then.” He stepped out the door, only pausing when I called his name.
He slowly turned, his controlled gaze giving nothing away.
My shoulders slumped. “Thank you for everything.”
He nodded his acknowledgment before disappearing out of sight.
I crossed my arms over my chest, rubbing my hands up and down my arms, wondering if I should give up on the thought of us. His words from the Christmas party right after we kissed floated through my head. “You deserve better than me.”
What was I supposed to do with that? He deserved everything, yet I had no idea how to get him to believe it.
CHAPTER 6
Jareth
“Damn it.” I strode from Hazel’s bedroom toward the kitchen as though the fires of hell nipped at my heels. Sweat beaded my brow at the thought of her delectable body pressed against mine. Her soft, plump lips being ravaged by my own. I knew if I gave in to the desire raging through me, I would not stop this time.
The hope in her eyes was like a shining beacon drawing me in. I’d been so close to losing my tight control over my emotions. No one made me falter. Except it seemed, Hazel. I’d hidden my growing attraction to her until the Christmas party. That fateful night ripped off the blindfold that I’d allowed her to wear, to think that I felt nothing toward her except our current boss-employee relationship.
My perception of her had drastically shifted two months ago. I’d walked up behind her while a dating site was displayed on her computer screen. The moment I realized it was hers, jealousy, an emotion I was unused to feeling, ripped through my body, shocking me. The need to possess her, to make sure no other man touched her but me, was my only thought. My instincts brought it down to one word: Mine.
There was no way I’d allow anything to happen between us again. That one kiss was all there would ever be. Eventually, Hazel would give up and find someone else. She was all that was good in this world. Even though her childhood was less than ideal, she grew up believing in the positivity of life. I’d lost that same optimism years ago.
Finally reaching the kitchen, I placed my palms on the cool gray granite surface and leaned forward, my head hanging down until my chin practically touched my chest. I breathed in and out, slowly gathering myself and replacing the mental armor I used to shield my emotions from others. Most people thought of me as a cold, emotionless bastard. It was a façade I’d painstakingly created over the years. People didn’t fuck me over because they knew I’d stop at nothing to return the favor. I was ruthless in my single-minded determination.
There was no light in my life.
No hope. No room for a relationship.
I was better off alone.
It suited my desire for revenge and didn’t give my enemies leverage to hold over me. Hazel deserved a life filled with joy, laughter, and happiness. All things I couldn’t give her.
I pulled off my suit jacket and let it rest on the back of a nearby chair placed at the island before me. With quick fingers, I released the cufflinks at my wrists and rolled up the sleeves of my dress shirt. The black ink etched into my arms reminded me of where my focus needed to be. The reason why I’d built my empire.
Each symbol stood for a letter of the alphabet or a phrase, a secret language my father and I had created together, one I used to develop stark reminders on my skin—power, revenge, justice—were the first three I’d had tattooed at the age of eighteen only hours after my father’s body had been found in the factory he once worked. The factory owned by Jessamine Sulton’s parents. The people responsible for his death.
The Sultons hadn’t worked alone. Neither of them liked to get their hands dirty. They preferred to hire someone for that. I had a sneaking suspicion they had help in making my father’s death look like a suicide. Without proof, I was a kid they were able to brush aside, and they were able to get away with murder.
