I gape at him dumbly. I have no idea how to wrap my head around those words.
He leans forward so that his face is directly in front of mine. His warm breath smells of mint. For a second, my only thoughts revolve around the blue flecks in his silver eyes. Around letting him hold me. Resting my head against his chest. And maybe sinking my teeth into his shoulder.
The radiating heat of his body invites me close, pulls me in, not unlike the feeling I get from my apartment. My pulse beats a rapid staccato against my throat, a reaction wholly related to his closeness. This is…unexpected. And invigorating? Hot? Why are none of these adjectives negative?
“If you think the way you’re going to get rid of me is by scaring away the bank people, think again.”
“Appraiser?” I repeat, latching onto the last word I registered. I step back again. He follows and shuts the door behind him.
“Yes. Myappraiser. Who disappeared from my apartment yesterday. Who wouldn’t answer my calls until about an hour ago, when she told me some loon appeared in the hole in the wall, threatened her life, lungedintothe hole toward her, and when she ran out, the ‘dangerous hole lady’—her wordsandmine—chasedher down the stairs.”
His words snap me out of my daze. “Excuse me? You’re talking about that woman you were putting the moves on—?”
He takes a step closer to me, and I force myself not to step back. I can feel his body heat, hot as a building radiator in winter. “I wasn’t putting the moves on her. She was here toappraise my apartment. For mymortgage. And you scared her half to death before she could do her job.”
He must observe the dawning horror on my face because he crosses his arms and purses his lips, the picture of irritated manhood.
I hold up a hand. “Okay, so… Yes, yeah… That’s not what happened at all? I mean. Some of it did, but not like how she said. I leaned through The Hole towarnher, not threaten her. And I ran to the hall to finish my thought because she bolted before I could—”
“Warn her aboutwhat?”
“You!”
“What about me?” he roars, any semblance of patience gone. “Is this what I have to worry about if I bring people over?”
“Only until The Hole is patched. But yes, I will chase away every woman you think you’ve scored.” I raise my chin a fraction, breathing heavily now.
He stares at me, incredulous. And then he surprises me by tipping his head back and laughing. A full-throated laugh.
I frown, watching the smile transform his features as the rumbling in his chest continues. My shoulders melt away from my ears. The tension, the fight in me, is draining away, replaced by confusion. “Whatis so funny?”
“I knew it,” he mutters.
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, he reaches up and brushes his thumb across my cheek, wiping away a lingering tear. His expression is inscrutable.
“Tell me to stop, and I will,” he says.
My mouth opens, the rest of me paralyzed by shock. And then he moves, curling an arm around me, his other hand sliding under my hair to the back of my neck.
Every nerve ending in my body stands at attention. Synapses, long dormant, fire. Misfire. I can’t breathe. Every inch of me is pressed against his hard body. My chest is heaving. I’m ready for battle. His lips are close, so close. His eyes are intense, darker than I’ve ever seen them. He’s closing them. He’s going to…
“What are you doing?” I choke out.
He pauses and opens his eyes. Then he whispers, “The jealousy is a little nutty, but—”
I plant my hands against his very firm chest—which I do not think about at all, thank you very much—and push as hard as I can. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He stumbles back, his lips tipped into an irritatingly self-assured smirk. Meanwhile, I am a quaking mess. “I suspected, sure, but confirmation is good. I’m not a huge fan of over-the-top jealousy—it screams trust issues. The warning-other-women-away thing and the crying are alittle…” He trails off, correctly reading the gathering storm clouds in my eyes.
“I. Am. Not. Jealous,” I grit out.
He straightens and slants me a look. “You literally scared away a woman you thought I was hooking up with.”
“Awayfromyou. Becauseyou’re a cheating asshole. Not because I was jealous, you creep!”
His facial expression is almost comical. It’s like his dick’s sudden realization that he isn’t getting any is warring with the story he just told himself. He wipes a hand down his face.
“Cheating? I’ve never cheated in my life.”
