Landen’s hands came up and pressed to the wall on each side of my head and he leaned in, crowding me until our bodies were less than an inch apart. “You mean it was just a fluke, that if I kissed you right now you wouldn’t open your mouth for me and try to yank my hair out by the roots like you did Saturday?”
I frowned at him. He was right, I had done both of those things on Saturday, but as I feared, he was taking it for granted.
I placed my hands on his chest and shoved. He moved back an inch but that was all. He still loomed over me like a dark, sexy, angry cloud. “And that right there is exactly why I don’t want to get involved with you. You kissed me and I kissed you back. It’s not a big deal. If I don’t want to go any further than that, it’s my prerogative. Just because I find you attractive does not mean that I’m going to ignore my common sense.”
“And what does your common sense say?” he asked, his voice dark and dangerous.
“That this is a bad idea,” I retorted. “If we ignore the reality that you’re one of Chris’ clients, then there’s the fact that we argue every time we see each other and there are times you get on my last damn nerve because you’re so high-handed. I don’t see us making it past one date.”
His head cocked to the side and his hand moved from the wall to my face, cupping my cheek. His eyes dropped to my mouth and his thumb trailed across my bottom lip in a soft caress. “We argue because I like arguing with you. And you like arguing with me. If you didn’t, you’d just freeze me out the way you do everyone else who gets on your nerves.”
How in the hell did he know me so well? I didn’t share personal details with him when he came to the office. And most of our conversations revolved around bickering. Clearly, he observed me more than I thought. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I merely stared up at him with narrowed eyes.
Finally, he sighed and smiled slightly. “Fine, you said we wouldn’t make it past one date, right?”
I nodded slowly, a sinking feeling in my chest at where that question was most likely leading.
“Then let me take you to dinner right now, tonight, and put that to the test.”
My eyes squinted more. “But you can’t be on your best behavior,” I stated. “You have to be yourself and not act differently because you want to win.”
He chuckled. “I’m always myself.” His hand moved from my cheek and he tapped my nose with the tip of his index finger. “And you’ll be your usual feisty self, I take it? Or do you intend to act like a brat just to test me.”
I wasn’t sure it was possible to squint and lift your eyebrows at the same time, but I managed it. “Of course not. I’ll behave as I usually do when you’re around.”
With my agreement, he pushed away from me, putting a foot of space between us. “Then let’s go have dinner.”
Without waiting for my agreement, he took my hand and pulled me toward the door of the office.
As I turned off the lights and locked the door, I suppressed the urge to laugh. There was no way we would get through appetizers without our conversation devolving into a heated argument. No way at all.
