Page 154 of His Good Girl

Her eyes were bright now with fury.

“You told me this was serious. You told me I wasn’t your toy. So don’t put me back on the shelf the second things get ugly.”

“I am not putting you on a shelf.”

“You are wrapping me in bubble wrap and setting a billion-dollar contract on fire underneath me.”

“It’s not about the money.”

“Of course it’s about the money. And the company. And Hartwell. And every employee here who trusts you not to make decisions with your guilt.” She stepped closer, close enough that I could see the pulse in her throat. “You don’t get to be noble with me and stupid with them.”

I stared at her. No one spoke to me like that. Not ever. Benjamin came close sometimes. Dana did it occasionally. Robert Hale had though, my best friend. Avery did it with her hands shaking and her mouth set and fear still alive in her eyes.

I wanted her so badly in that moment it almost angered me.

“You don’t understand the full exposure,” I said.

“No, I probably don’t, but I do understand being scared. I understand wanting to make the fear stop so badly you call it strategy.” She lifted her chin. “And I understand that you giving them what they want does not protect me or the company. It teaches them what I cost to you.”

Avery came the last step toward me.

Then she kissed me. It wasn’t gentle or shy or like a woman asking to be reassured. She kissed me like she was furious with me, like she had decided if there was going to be a scandal, she would rather walk into it by my side than be carried around it like something fragile. I caught her by the waist before I could stop myself. She broke the kiss first, breath uneven, eyes blazing.

“You’ll never lose me, Callum. And definitely not because some corporate consultant learned how to use his law degree to commit extortion.”

“Avery.”

“One last thing, though.” Her gaze dropped briefly to my cock, deliberately, then came back to mine. “I will be a lot less wet for you if you don’t put your dick on that table and man up.”

For about three seconds, I could not breathe. Then I laughed. I laughed because the pressure in my chest had become unbearable and she had just split it open with profanity and courage.

Her mouth twitched. “That was not a joke.”

“I know that.”

“Good.”

I framed her face in both hands and kissed her again, softer this time but no less serious. When I drew back, she was still glaring at me, though the expression had been compromised by wanting.

“You are furious,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Frightened.”

“Yes.”

“Still with me.”

Her eyes softened. “Yes.”

I closed my eyes briefly and pressed my forehead to hers.

There was no easy solution to this. Vale still had the photographs. Lang still had motive. Hartwell still hung over the company like a storm about to break. If those images went public, Avery’s reputation would be dragged through the mud. I would be called predatory, reckless, and probably hypocritical. Some of it would be true, some false. But some of it would be complicated, and complicated rarely survived headlines.

I lifted my head. “You understand what happens if we fight this.”

“No,” she answered. “But I’ll learn.”