‘They are still discussing it and said they’d send an email first thing in the morning.’
He pulled a face. ‘If it needs that much discussion, then I’m in trouble.’
Frankly, he was. His actions had been broadcast to millions of people around the world. At best he’d lost his temper and was a bully, at worst he’d resorted to violence. Either way, team owner or not, high profile or not, he wasn’t the poster boy for good sportsmanship.
‘It’s been a rough day,’ Taz murmured, the king of the understatement
She agreed. He was difficult and reticent and frequently rude, but his day had gone from bad to worse to edging into catastrophic.
‘And unfortunately the next few days will be as bad, if not worse. If the stewards came back with a rest-of-the-season ban, that’s it for the season. And there will be no way I can beat—’
He stopped speaking and turned his head away, but not before Millie caught the apprehension in his eyes and the panic on his face. It was the first time she’d seen his I’ve-got-everything-control façade slip. Seeing that chink in his armour made him seem more attractive—if that was even possible.
And dangerous. So dangerous. She needed to keepnotliking him so she didn’t do anything rash like make her attraction to him known. She felt like she’d already lost ground to him; she couldn’t surrender anymore.
She looked at the door and tried to smile. ‘I’m going to go. I’ll be back in the morning. As I said, there are things we need to discuss, including this promotion you dropped in my lap—’
‘Most people would be happy to be promoted.’
If they thought they could handle the job, sure, then happiness was warranted. But Millie had her doubts. She’d only ever handled small accounts, and Taz had the eyes of the world on him. This was a job for the best in the business, not for an inexperienced woman working out who she was, what she wanted and how she should walk through the world.
‘As I said, we need to discuss it.’ She shouldn’t be here: It was inappropriate, and he looked tired. ‘But it can wait until morning.’ She looked at the closed door. ‘I should go.’
‘Wait,’ Taz replied. He lifted his free hand to grip her upper arm. He tugged her down so that her mouth was an inch away from his, and his breath warmed her lips. ‘You don’t like me very much, do you?’
Up until Thursday, she hadn’t. Or not much. Like her parents, he was ridiculously arrogant and entirely too used to getting his way. But something had shifted, leaving her disoriented and off balance.
It was as if she’d slipped on a new pair of glasses and suddenly, the world—he—had come into sharper focus. Maybe it was the lines of pain etched into his face, his tired eyes or the white cast, but his hard edges now seemed less jagged, the aloofness less tangible, his loneliness palpable. She felt rattled: She wasn’t ready for anything to change between them.
Like him, she was weary. It had been a long day, and she was emotionally and physically drained. It was natural to overthinkeverything…
‘Are those drugs finally kicking in?’ she asked, changing the subject.
‘I’m fine.’ The side of his mouth lifted in a half smile. ‘You don’t need to answer, I can see it in your eyes. Few people like me, and I can live with that.’
She wanted to deny his words, but a sense of self-preservation held her back. What was the point of admitting that he fascinated her? There could never be anything between them. He was a shooting star, and she was…not.
Taz had made being emotionally unavailable into an art form. ‘I don’t think you let people close enough to decide whether they like you or not.’
His eyebrows rose at that assessment, but instead of responding he tipped his head to the side, his hand still on her arm. ‘But you do want me to kiss you. You’re attracted to me.’
His words were softly uttered but no less powerful than a shout. He was an experienced guy, and she’d been foolish to think he hadn’t picked up on her attraction, wouldn’t be surprised to hear that, whenever he was close or within twenty feet of her, she felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Thoughts of how it would feel to have her lips under his, to skim his hard, muscled body with her hands, consumed her.
Attractedwas too tame a word to describe her reaction to him. The truth was, in this moment, she’d never wanted anyone more. She burned for him, and she wasn’t a woman who liked playing with fire.Why did he make her feel like this?
Millie held her breath as Taz’s hand moved up her arm and slid around the back of her neck. He tunnelled his long fingers into her hair. She knew she should be sensible and pull back and put some distance between them. But she was so tired of being sensible, of doing what was expected. She wanted to step into the fire and feel the flames lick her face. Kissing him was a very bad idea, but she was, strangely and uncharacteristically, going to do it anyway.
Taz lifted his mouth and pulled her head down, and their lips met in a kiss that was as soft as it was sexy. She placed her fingers on his jaw, surprised at the softness of the stubble on his jaw and cheek. It tickled her lips as he explored her mouth, his tongue pressing the seam of her lips, demanding entrance.
She shouldn’t—he was her boss, for God’s sake! He paid her salary. She shouldn’t even be here, in this hospital room, with him. But her body, more specifically her mouth, failed to decode her brain’s frantic messages. Her lips parted, partly from shock, partly from need, and he slipped inside her mouth, setting off a chain reaction of baby fireworks on her skin. His tongue tangled with hers, and she heard his rumble of appreciation and felt his hand tightening on her head. Her blood heated, her eyes closed, and she never wanted him to stop. This was, bar none, the best kiss of her life…
His soft grumble, deep in his throat released the last string holding her control together, and the fingers of her hand speared into his hair, and her other hand pulled his soft T-shirt up his stomach to find warm male skin. All she wanted to do was to straddle him, rock herself against his hard length. Why was she reacting like this? Whowasshe? Why did he make her feel so reckless?
And breathless.
His hand ran up and down her back, over her hip, up her ribcage. It wasn’t nearly enough. Nothing but being naked and having him inside her would be enough. Millie didn’t recognise herself: She never responded like this, was never needy and…wanton.
Men never made her feel wild and out of control. Taz, through some dark magic, did.
