“I was handling it.”
“How?”
“That’s none of your business. I’m none of your business.” I jab the elevator button again before one of the execs or Friar himself comes out to find me arguing with his security consultant. That would just be the icing to cap off this freaking day.
The arrival of the car is a relief, though short-lived. Stiles follows me in…close. The reminder of what happened the last time we were alone in an elevator fills the air around us. Stiles inches forward, exuding that dynamite force I’d felt the effects of the first time we’d met. The night Mick sent him to drive Dee and me home from Lexie’s birthday party last October.
I should take a step back from his sheer power, but I’m too mad. “So help me, Jasper, if you kiss me, I will slug you.”
“I’m not going to kiss you,” he says. “But I want to.”
No, no, no, no. He does not get to do this to me.“You are the most confusing and frustrating man I’ve ever met. I don’t understand you, and frankly, it’s too much effort to try.”
The elevator doors open, and two people in business suits get on, stopping our conversation, which is just as well since there’s nothing more to say. I can feel his gaze on me as I keep my eyes lowered to the tips of my shoes. We exit into the lobby, and before I join the throng of workers leaving for the day, he holds me still with just one deep, commanding rasp. “Jordyn.”
Inhaling a deep breath and getting another whiff of his scent that surrounded me in the elevator, I glance up the length of his suit to his face. My heart pounds. Something resembling conflict fills his eyes, chasing away his carefully measured expression.
“You’re angry, I get it,” he says as people move around us.
“I passed angry after three kiss-‘n-runs. I’m done with wanting you.” I wish that were true. But for my self-respect and self-esteem, I need to cut him off. As much as I crave our unmatched sexual chemistry, I can’t justify those brief moments of pure electricity against his constant rejection. “Let’s just keep away from each other.”
“What if that’s not what I want?”
“It is, Jasper. Otherwise, you wouldn’t go on a head trip and run every time things get hot between us.”
He draws in a breath. “I can explain.”
“To return a quote,no, thank you.”
“I deserve that.”
“You do. But it was petty, and I don’t like being this way.”
“I know it seems like I’m messing with your head, but I’m not. Can we talk tonight, please?” I notice a surprising hint of vulnerability. It thaws my resistance and loosens my willpower.
“All right. Eight o’clock. But…,” in a last show of strength, I add over my shoulder as I walk away, “don’t expect dinner this time.”
IWIPE MY PALM DOWN my jeans as I wait for Jordyn to open the door.
I’d gone home first to change and prepare dinner for Pops. His hands were swollen, and that made his usual tasks more difficult and painful.
“You got some pep in your step, Junior,” he said after polishing off a plate of lasagna I picked up from the Italian deli. “Looks good on you.”
Ignoring his comment, I rubbed the medicated cream onto his hands and crooked fingers. “We have an appointment on Thursday with the doctor to check on this swelling.”
“Boy, stop fussing, and go on your date.”
“I’m not going on a date.”
“Well, you didn’t slap on that cologne for me. Is it the architect?”
“We’re just talking. Call if you need anything, and rest your hands.”
“They’ll rest when I’m dead.”
I shook my head at his stubbornness and grabbed my keys to the Adventure. “See you, Pops.”
“You be sweet to that girl, you hear? Not every woman is—”
