“No, thanks.”
Kingsley slid over the back and onto the couch.
“What’s up with you?”
He was still shirtless, and his smell was disturbingly familiar, that godawfully expensive European cologne, the touch of hair gel, that intoxicating smell of sun on skin, something that smelled like the promise of sex and sin.
The smell that had made me weak and wet and dripping since college.
“Why aren’t you in my bedroom? Come on, baby girl, get that ass in there. You know Chicago make me horny.”
My hands tightened around my phone.
“What are you suggesting? Getting a dirty fuck from me and then going back to your girlfriend for some nice respectful sex later?”
“Yeah,” Kingsley said without blinking. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“No,” I snapped, turning back to the lyrics I was working on.
He leaned closer, brushing my hair away so he could see what I was doing, his fingers a breath past my shoulder, curling briefly around my throat.
“Want to work on some songs together? I need a song by the end of the week. Something about ferrets or some shit.”
Since the first day he’d raised a finger at me and jerked his head toward his dorm room, I’dbelongedto him.
But not anymore.
“I quit,” I said.
He only raised an eyebrow, leaning forward to take a strand of my long dark hair and twirl it around his finger.
“You quit what?”
I slapped his hand away.
“You. This job. Traveling with you. Songwriting with you. I’m quitting it all.”
Kingsley slid his eyes sideways at me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on,” I said. “I quit.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not going to quit. Why would you quit? Do you want more money? Just tell Cornelius whatever you want your salary to be.”
“It’s not the salary,” I said, annoyed. “It’s you. I don’t want to be aroundyouanymore.”
He still had that arrogant smirk on his face.
“You pissed at me? Come fuck it out in the bedroom. You can pick, baby girl. Ass or pussy.”
OK, so apparently he was going to play stupid.
“Seriously?” I almost snarled. “You can’t fuck your way out of this one, Kings. I’m talking about you going public with Dolly. When you’ve always told me you weren’t a relationship guy.”
“I wasn’t. I changed my mind.”
Changed his mind? After all those years waiting for him to be ready to commit, waiting to him to somehow fall in love. . .
And he had. . . with another woman.
