She wanted to get out of there as fast as she could, desperate to escape before she threw herself back into his arms, but Aaron was blocking her path back inside. “Hey, sorry to interrupt…we were just worried about you,” Aaron said, glancing between them with an amused look on his face. Should I go back inside?”
“No,” she said, a bit too loudly. “I’m going home now.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Taylor said, then looked over at Aaron. “Meet you back inside, okay?”
“Sure thing, I’ll just tell everyone you’re fine,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “See you inside.”
“I can walk to my car alone,” she said. “Go back to your friends, I’m not letting you kiss me again, so you’re just wasting your time.”
“Who said I wanted to kiss you again? I’m just trying to be a gentleman, blame Hattie and her lessons about manners,”he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Will it make you feel better if I promise not to kiss you again tonight?”
“It would make me happy if you’d promise not to kiss me again, period,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “We’re just supposed to be friends.”
“Yeah, I might be having a little problem with that part,” he said, grinning at her. “I’ve been trying to control it, believe me, but nothing seems to be working; maybe I should just give in.”
“Don’t you dare,” she said, shaking her head, hating the way that made her heart soar. “I’m going home; maybe that will cool you down.”
Turning away from him, very aware of his eyes following her as she walked away, she tried to ignore the way her lips were still tingling from the kiss and the desire that still made her a little breathless. Only a second later, she heard the sound of his footsteps behind her and knew that she was in trouble. Letting him kiss her had changed everything between them, and there might not be any going back.
She ignored him all the way to her car, but when she got there, it became too much. She had to try just once more to stop what was happening between them. “Taylor, this isn’t a good idea. I’m not really…free to…well, you know,” she said. We’re just supposed to be friends. We agreed. We have to stick to that. I can’t explain why. That’s just the way it has to be.”
“I think it’s too late for that, I think I already crossed the line when I kissed you,” Taylor said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t want this anymore than you do, but we keep getting tangled up together, it may be time to just accept it and let it run its course, get it out of our systems.”
She stared at him, both shocked and tantalized by the thought of what he was suggesting. Then she remembered her job. “Are you suggesting that we sleep together? Is thatwhat you mean by getting it out of your system?” she asked, relieved to have something to be mad about. “Let me tell you something, buddy. I’m not that kind of girl. I don’t sleep with someone just because I’m attracted to them. There has to be more.”
Taylor backed up a step. “Hey, hold on, I didn’t mean that…I was just suggesting…” he stammered. “I don’t think you’re that kind of girl…I just…I don’t know…”
She unlocked her car and got in, started it up, then rolled down the window. “It doesn’t matter what you meant,” she said. “We’re just friends, Taylor, that’s it, that’s all there can be, we’ll study together but no more dates, no more kissing.”
He didn’t say anything for a second, then shrugged his shoulders, “I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” he said. “I won’t make any promises that I might not be able to keep.”
Hating the burst of happiness that filled her chest, when their eyes met, she gave him another dirty look. “Give it up, Taylor, it’s not going to happen,” she said, putting the car into gear. “You’re just wasting your time.”
CHAPTER 14
***TAYLOR***
Taylor stood watching Emily’s taillights disappear into the distance, knowing that he should be horrified that he’d kissed her, but couldn’t find the appropriate guilt and finally gave up with a sigh. His once ordered life was suddenly out of control, and he was finding it impossible to get things back together; in fact, things had only gotten worse since he’d started trying. He wanted to blame Emily, after all the problems only started when she’d shown up in his life, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. The fault was all his.
He had crossed a line with that kiss, changing things between them permanently. When he stopped to think about it, he didn’t really care; he was tired of fighting the dragon inside him. If the creature was that determined to have Emily, maybe it was time he gave in and followed his instincts. His dragon had never been wrong before, and he was beginning to think it wasn’t this time either. But even as he accepted that Emily might play a bigger role in his life, he couldn’t forget that she was lying to him, hiding somethingfrom him. Until he figured out what it was, he had to be careful.
The flash of headlights reminded him that he was standing in the middle of the parking lot, and the rest of the night came rushing back to him, making him curse when he thought about his friends waiting inside for him. He could just imagine what they must be thinking, how upset they must all be, and instead of talking to them and smoothing things over, he was out in the parking lot kissing Emily. Feeling even more guilty than he did before, he turned and headed back inside, preparing himself for his fraternity brothers’ anger.
When he came back inside, there were just seven of them at the table, and none of them looked happy. “Where is everyone else?” he asked, sitting down. “I owe them, well, all of you, an apology. I should have been able to control myself better with Sebastian.”
“Abby took them to meet some of her friends,” Jackson said, narrowing his eyes at him. “Was what Sebastian said true? Are you really related to him?”
“It’s possible,” he said, “but I’ve never met him before.”
“Do you know who he is?” Ryan asked, but didn’t wait for him to answer. “He’s not only the new leader of the Kappas; his grandfather runs the Marbury clan. He’s the alpha in case you don’t know what that means, and everyone says Sebastian is going to take over for him someday.”
They all turned to look at him. “So, what’s the deal?” Gabe asked. “Are you related to them or what?”
“It’s not something I like to talk about, but yes, Arthur Marbury is my grandfather, but he’s not family,” he said, hoping his friends would understand. “I’ve never even met the man, in fact, if my grandfather had had his way, I would never have been born. He was furious when he found out that my mother was not only pregnant with mebut in love with one of the servants. He killed my father, and he was planning to kill my mother too. He had her locked up in her room, but her nanny and a couple of the other servants helped her escape, then ran away themselves afterward.”
There was a stunned silence around the table, then Cooper cleared his throat. “I can’t believe he let her go,” he said, shaking his head. “Arthur Marbury is known for his ruthlessness. Didn’t he go after her?”
“He tried to, but she was smart, she went straight to Simon Barrington, pleaded for his protection, and he gave it to her,” he said, unable to hide the touch of pride in his voice. “By the time my grandfather caught up with her, she’d pledged her loyalty to Clan Barrington, and he couldn’t touch her without starting a clan war.”
