And it infuriates me right back.
After a few moments of the intense staring contest, I mutter, “Fuck it.”
Tossing the beer bottle in the trash can, I cross to the room, my stare laser-focused on one blonde goddess whose mere existence is terrorizing me. I slap one hand on the table in front of her as my knuckles turn white with the grip on the back of her chair, her vanilla perfume invading my nostrils.
Her eyes widen as I bend down so my lips brush her ear. “Mags,” I drawl out. “I need to talk to you. Meet me in the hallway.”
I stand and pivot on my heels. I have no idea if she will follow me, but I’m begging the universe to intervene and make her. I’m also not quite sure what my plan is, but I need to get her alone.
Pacing the hallway, I open a few of the doors on the opposite side of the hall. Finding most locked, the only one that opens appears to be a small closet. I turn when I hear a door behind me open.
Maggie steps into the hall and lets the door close behind her. Her guarded eyes find mine as she toys with her necklace. “You wanted to talk to me?”
My long steps eat up the space between us. When I’m within a few inches of her, my hand snakes around her to find her lower back. Just the warmth and softness of her body beneath my fingertips is enough to be my undoing. With her eyes on mine, I apply pressure to propel her toward the closet. “Come with me.”
Her feet stay planted momentarily before she takes a step with a sigh. “I hope this is where you murder me because I’ll be honest, I think that’ll probably be easier at this point.”
My steps falter at her statement. There’s no way for her to know about my past, but it makes me nauseous to even think of anything happening to her.
“I would never fucking hurt you, Maggie. Never.”
My tone is more serious than she meant it, but it’s vital that I make it clear I would never do anything to bring harm to her.
She wraps her lips over her teeth and nods.
I continue moving us down the hall, my eyes locked on her questioning gaze. Pulling open the door, I move her into the closet, spinning her around so her back is against the door.
“Ian, what are we doing?” Maggie asks, her breathy voice going straight to my groin.
I can’t take not touching her. The compulsion is too strong to ignore for another second. It feels like I’ll be torn limb from limb if I don’t give in. I press my body into hers, my hands sliding up her sides until they settle on her neck. Her pulse beats wildly in her neck as I cup her jaw and run a thumb over her bottom lip—it’s sticky from the shiny gloss I watched her reapply multiple times tonight. A low moan is loud in the silent room when my other hand squeezes the sides of her neck.
“Mags, what is it?” Being this close to her again is making my brain fuzzy.
Her neck muscles flutter under my palm when she swallows. “I don’t understand…”
“What is it about you? Why? Why can I not get you out of my fucking mind?”
My hand on her neck slips down her silky skin until it meets the neckline of her dress. Annoyance that there’s so much fabric between us floods me. I run my finger along the top of the dress and smirk when she shivers against me.
“Does it make you happy that I can’t stop thinking about you?” I ask gruffly.
Shaking her head, her fingers wrap around the wrist ofthe hand holding her jaw. “If that’s true, why did you leave me last time?”
If I weren’t centimeters away from her, I wouldn’t have heard her. Her tone is part anger and part desperation, which I can certainly relate to.
I angle her head back to expose more of her neck to me. Dropping my head to nibble on her neck right below her ear, I speak against her skin. “I don’t really think you should be the one demanding answers since you’re the one who broke up with me.”
I silence her protest by doing something I’ve been dreaming of for almost a year—kiss her. My lips consume her. My tongue flirts with hers as heat and goosebumps battle it out on my skin. My conscience screams at me that she might have been lying about not having a boyfriend. But I think the time to have been worried about that was when my tongue was buried in her pussy instead of her mouth. We’re well past that. Besides, she and I both know she should’ve been with me all along, so I reason with myself that it’s a valid excuse not to ask again.
As she arches her body away from the door and into mine, I take the kiss deeper. I reach down and grip her dress, dragging it up her legs until I can toy with the band of her thong. Running my palm down her bare ass cheek, I revel in the way her skin feels against mine.
My hand trails around her hip, and my fingers slip underneath until laughter and loud talking from right outside the door have both of us freezing. I wait for them to pass and am about to pick up where I left off when I’m pushed back forcefully.
“Get off of me!” Maggie whispers-yells at me, her eyebrows pinched and pupils blown wide.
“Maggie, please.” I’m not above begging at this point.
She covers her face with both hands as she shakes her head adamantly. “No, Ian.” Her hands lower to her sides, and the stare she levels me with has me freezing—raw pain evident in every feature. “I can’t do this. Look, I’m so extremely sorry for everything I said, but this hurts too much.”
