Can she not put that thought in my head?
I’ve already had a hard time pretending this weekend didn’t happen, when the truth is, I can’t stop thinking about it.
Kissing her put a pause on reality. The world faded; my thoughts seized. I think maybe my heart might have stopped beating for a moment too, and if I let myself have that again, I’ll probably become addicted.
I can’t do this with her.
She’s my head engineer, the team owner’s daughter, and my former rival.
Things could get messy…fast.
I exhale and clear my head. Tess’s pacing is unrelenting, and at some point, she shed her sweater and now stands in tight leggings and a tank top that hugs her in all the right places.
“Dad won’t see it,” she mumbles. “He’s never on those sites. But what about everyone else?” She pauses with a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. “What if one of his old friends calls and tells him?”
She needs to take a breather.
I watch her for a few more seconds and can’t take it any longer. I stand from the couch, and stride to her. She’s so in her head that she doesn’t even notice, or maybe she doesn’t feel my presence as much as I feel hers. My hands snap outward, and I grab onto her hips. The rushed gasp from her lungs pulls my attention right to her mouth.
“Take a breath, Tess.”
Her long lashes flutter, but her breaths remain short and sharp.
I back her up to the wall and slowly grab a hold of her wrists, guiding her hands to my chest. “Breathe with me.”
I inhale, ignoring the hints of her perfume, and then exhale slowly.
Eventually, she does the same. Our breaths begin to match, our chests rising at the same time. Those perfect, round breasts of hers call my name with each inhale.
“There.” I make myself stare into her eyes instead of elsewhere. “For a second, I thought I was going to have to give you mouth to mouth.”
Tessa glares, but I know her glares well enough now that I can recognize the crumb of humor behind the annoyance.
“What a shame that would be, huh?” I ask.
I smirk, and she slaps my hands away from her waist.
“I can’t stand you,” she snips.
“Funny, you seemed to stand me just fine the other night.” I wink because I just can’t help but get a rise out of her.
I crave it.
“Rome!” She crosses her arms in a huff. “Stop it. This is serious.”
I sigh and force myself back to the couch. “It isn’t that serious. Everyone around us knows we bicker like an old married couple. No one will believe the rumor.”
“But there are people that will.” Tessa’s tone drops, and I’m not sure I like the way my chest squeezes from the hint of melancholy within it.
“No one saw us. Right?” she asks.
“Can you sit? You’re making me nervous.”
And I can’t stop staring at you.
Surprisingly, Tessa abides by my demand, which really doesn’t help my thoughts. She chooses to sit right beside me, the cushion dipping just enough to where our arms brush.
“It was Vinny,” I say. “One of his guys walked onto the elevator after…”—I swallow and look away—“we kissed. He must have sensed something, told Vinny, and then Vinny’s way of getting back at us for beating him was to do something like this.”
