Wait, what am I doing?
He and I had a deal—an uncomplicated annulment in exchange for living in his house.
Chris ran so hot and cold, who knew if this kiss would set him off? He could flip out, accuse me of trying to steal his money, then kick me and Gran out of the house. We’d have nowhere else to go!
I pushed him off.
His eyes had this slightly glazed, intense look.
“This is not happening again,” I warned, trying to control my breathing. “We are not in love; we don’t even like each other.”
28
Chris
Grace doesn’t like me.
The car ride back to the penthouse was tense. She sat as far away from me as she could while I relived the kiss over and over again.
She said it couldn’t happen again.
She was right that it couldn’t.
But I wanted it again.
I stared at Grace in the darkness of the car.
Her eyes flicked over and met mine. She let out an exasperated breath.
“Stop looking at me,” she said.
“You’re looking at me,” I replied, grinning in the dark.
The driver pulled up in front of the building, the light from the doorway illuminating Grace in the car.
“You really don’t like me?” I prodded as we stepped out of the car. I picked up all her bags and lights, ignoring her protests to let her carry something.
“I despise you,” she said as we headed to the private elevator to take me to my penthouse.
“Liar.”
She glared at me from the other side of the elevator. It was all I could do not to close the distance and take her mouth.
You should listen to her. This isn’t going to end well.
But it was Grace—Grace who had cooked me breakfast then pulled a fourteen-hour day. One kiss wasn’t going to ruin things between us; Grace wasn’t Addison.
The elevator dinged. We were at the penthouse. I carried Grace’s stuff inside while she hovered around me to make sure I didn’t jostle anything. I set all the bags carefully down on the table. Then I gently held her arms.
“So you don’t like me at all?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Not one little bit?”
She shook her head, biting her lip, not pulling away from me.
“That’s too bad,” I whispered, “because I like you a lot.”
