Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“Of course, you have. You know you get a little more time here or there because you’re a beautiful woman.”
My heart thunders in my chest. He thinks I’m beautiful? And of all things, right now, why is that what I just focused on?
“And I am protective of you, Bella,” he adds, his attention sharply fixated on my face, but his stare is carefully veiled.
I am not moved by his words. I’m actually slightly offended. “Because I’m Dash’s sister,” I state, and it’s not a question. I love my brother, but the weird, almost confrontational friendship between him and Dash, and I’m always in the middle.
“No,” he says without hesitation. “I hired you before Dash was even part of the picture. Dash has nothing to do with anything between us.”
I could read into the “between us” comment in an intimate way, and if I were someone else, I might. But I don’t. I came to Nashville on my own, for a job. Dash followed me, not the other way around. My chin lifts in defiance. “Make no mistake. I can handle myself, Tyler.”
He steps closer, and I can feel the heat of his body, the scent of his cologne, drugging my senses. “Show me,” he challenges. “Handle me now.”
A summersault of energy overwhelms me, my stomach feeling every second of the wicked twist that follows. “What does that even mean?”
He shocks me then, his hands sliding to my waist, a rush of heat between us, fire in my belly. “Handle me now,” he repeats.
It is the first and only time Tyler Hawk has ever touched me, rather than me touching him, and I feel the connection in every part of me. I don’t know what his intent is right now, or what he wants from me, but I know we’re treading on dangerous ground.
And I’m the one who will get hurt.
I should run away from him as he suggested.
But I am going nowhere.
Chapter Eleven
Bella
My hand goes to Tyler’s hand, which rests on my waist, in my mind trying to control what comes next but all it does is create another connection, me to him and him to me. But he’s also simply imitating what Josh did to me out on that patio—where he touched me, how he touched me. But there is no comparison. One is ice and one is heat. Tyler is the heat. “You are not Josh.”
“Why does that matter?” he challenges. “This is an exercise in control. Your control, Bella.”
My eyes meet his and I swear, I have that same sensation I had when he first touched me. I feel him in every part of me. “What are you doing, Tyler?” I whisper. “What are we doing?”
“Tell me no, Bella,” he demands, his voice low but no less commanding.
“No,” I say easily, but it’s not exactly the version of “no” he’s asking for. I’m not saying “no” to his touch. I’m saying “no” to saying “no” to Tyler. Because I can’t seem to will myself any more than him to remove his hand from my body.
Tyler rather obviously senses the real meaning behind my version of “no.”
I see that in the way he narrows his eyes on me and I feel it in the flex of his fingers on my waist. There is possessiveness in the warmth of his touch that I might be imagining, but I am so screwed because I really hope that I am not. As if confirming my suspicions, he says, “Define your version of no, Bella.”
I push back, rebelling against the command I’ve read in his tone. “I said what you wanted me to say.”
His other hand comes down on the door beside my head, almost as if he’s caging me. “Tell me no, Bella.” There is something almost raw and angry in his words.
“Tyler—”
He shocks me then, cupping my face, his grip firm but not painful. “Is this how you tell everyone else no, Bella? Because if it is—”
“Don’t be an asshole,” I snap back at him. “I told you, you are not everyone else. And if you think I sleep around to get business, stop touching me and fire me, Tyler. I will happily pack up my desk today.”
Seconds tick by in which he stares down at me, his blue eyes piercing, the air thick between us until he abruptly twines his fingers into my hair, giving the long strands a rough, erotic tug. His mouth lowers, lingering above mine, his breath on my skin. “I do not think you sleep around but damn it, woman, you really don’t take orders well. I said, say no, and then this ends right now.”
“I already did. You didn’t like my version of ‘no.’”
The muscle in his jaw flexes, seconds ticking by before he murmurs, “If there is one thing I’ve learned that you need to understand, it’s that there are consequences to actions. This is what happens when you don’t say no.” His mouth closes down on my mouth, and then he’s kissing me.