His bright blue gaze rested on my eyes, and heat pooled in my stomach. Seriously, this guy should come with a warning label and caution tape.
"I've got an idea how to shake him, but you probably won't like it."
I turned to see Massimo standing up and looking in our general direction. "At this point, I'd accept any kind of rescue."
Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Henry-Cavill frowned. "Are you sure about that?"
I looked back nervously. "Oh, I'm sure."
Then, with a wry grin, he pulled me close, his woodsy, spicy scent overwhelming my senses. His warmth enveloped me, making me feel safe and protected. He smiled, the promise of wicked sin in his expression. And then he kissed me.
5
Drake
And this was where I made my mistake. An error in calculation. Yes, I was supposed to set the trap, but was I supposed to enjoy it?
Her lips were so damn soft. One brush and I felt myself being drawn in. Sucked in.
It wasn't just her beauty. It was about her essence. This woman I'd been watching for weeks.
If I was the good guy, I would have backed off and put the plan aside because using someone who was already scared as bait was a bad idea. They were likely to get hurt. Then I would have that on my conscience.
Good thing I didn't have one. Besides, whatever she'd done to get on his radar, that was why she was here. And that was why I was going to use her to get my fucking life back.
I slid my hand up her back to cradle her neck, pulling her closer and angling her head just the way I liked it. She was smaller than me. Maybe five foot six or seven. It was hard to tell because she was wearing high heels, but I still towered over her.
I deliberately turned my body so that more of my back was to the front of the restaurant. Massimo would only be able to see part of my profile but all of hers. I took the risk that he would come closer. That he would try to make me stop kissing her, stop touching what he thought was his.
But something in the deep, dark recesses of my mind wanted to claw its way out. No. She's mine.
I deepened the kiss. A growl of deep satisfaction bubbled up as she moaned and then parted her lips for the onslaught of my tongue. I wasted no time diving in, licking deep, teasing her tongue to play.
I knew where I was, what I was doing, and how well I was doing it.
But there was something I couldn't place happening. Something that made me want to relax into the kiss, to melt into her, to let her melt into me until we became one.
My mistake was not letting go in that moment, not pulling away. My mistake was going back for more. She was making this whimpering sound, like a kitten mewling. And fuck me, I went back for seconds and thirds until I was lost in the whirlwind and fire of the kiss.
I tried to pull away, to save myself, but then her fingers dug into the lapels of my blazer, pulling me closer as she pressed her lithe body against mine.
My cock was straining against my trousers, demanding and desperate. All the blood in my head rushed south, leaving me with no functioning thought processes. All that was left were primal, desperate impulses to claim her.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
The brain cells in my head were now soup, rendered completely useless by the raging hard-on in my jeans. Thanks to her.
She pressed even closer, my erection kicking against her belly. She gasped and tried to pull away, but my arms tightened around her hips, holding her still. I didn't pull her closer. I didn't grind against her like I desperately wanted to. I just held her there and gave her a choice.
Would she run like a rabbit or would she stay?
When she pulled back for a second, my eyes fell to her mouth as I watched her tongue peek out and lick her lower lip.
I knew I was in her system, but I waited for her eyes to meet mine, to tell me what she was thinking, to show me what she was feeling. But her eyes never opened as she came back for more, pressing against my thick erection, her hips rocking ever so slightly.
Fuck. The alarm bells clanged as I dove into dangerous territory with her sweet scent wafting around me, coaxing, teasing, tempting. I groaned and pulled her closer, ready to burn us both to ashes.
Someone jostled by us, and at the slightest movement, I managed to break the spell she had on me. Bloody hell.
She blinked quickly, her breath coming out in sharp gasps. "I'm so sorry. I never should have—"
My fingers itched to pull her back, but I let go. "Let me get this straight; I maul you in a bar, and you apologize to me?"
"Well, you didn't exactly maul me. I'm pretty sure I begged you to kiss me, which is pretty damn humiliating."
I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets to avoid touching her again. "You're fine. And what do you want to bet you're not being stalked anymore?"
Her eyes darted over my shoulder, and then she frowned as she had to lean around me to see. Her eyes went wide. "He's saying something to Talia and Talia is giving as good as she gets. He's leaving. I can't believe that actually worked."
I shrugged. "I live to serve." I said it through clenched teeth. I could taste her on my tongue. All I wanted to do was sink into her, take a bite.
Now is not the time. Follow the plan.
“Thank you. I uh—” She licked her lips nervously then opened her mouth as if to say something else. But then she thought better of it and shut it before she gave me a small wave and walked back the way she had come.
I watched her go, every nerve in my body trying to claw its way out to grab her and hold on.
I had a plan. If I followed it, I would have Massimo Igno in no time. Feeling anything for Daphne would complicate that and be counterproductive.
She was just a pawn. One that I knew exactly how to play.
6
Daphne
I don’t know why I thought that Christopher could be an adult. I was wrong.
He'd broken up with me, so why was he being a wanker?
And that's why you shouldn't sleep with your boss.
To be fair, he wasn't my boss when we started dating. He was one level above me and I hadn't been rolled under him yet.
Hehehe. You said under him.
My inner twelve-year-old diva had a field day with me.
Between Talia’s barrage of messages this morning, asking lots of questions to find out more details about last night's hot guy, and Christopher darkening my door first thing at work, it had been quite a day.
I'd slept like shit. My mind had been plagued by thoughts of a man I didn't even know. Like, who the hell was that bloke? Last night, I'd returned to the table to a shocked Talia and thankfully no Massimo. Apparently he'd had a work emergency.
For shame.
Talia had drilled me and then congratulated me on picking the fittest bloke in the bar to snog. She’d thought I was brave and taken my fate in my own hands.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’d been rescued.
Like a coward.
Kissing a stranger in a bar. It wasn't me. Not bothering to find out said stranger's name? Not me either.
Obsessing over his lips and the way he'd touched me and why I was more aroused by his kiss than I'd ever been with Christopher… Well, okay, that seemed like me.
No sleep meant that today would require every ounce of patience I had. Every last ounce.