Page 79 of Twisted Knight

“I’ll give you that slap once.” He brings my hand to his lips and startles me when he licks the inside of my palm. “And only once,” he murmurs against my skin so that the vibration of his lips tickles my nerve endings back to life.

“How dare you.” I need to say something, anything, and that most definitely isn’t it, but it’s all I have.

“How dare I?” he asks.

I’ve never been more aware of someone’s presence before.

The scent of his cologne.

The warmth of his body.

The strength in his hands.

His taste still lingering on my tongue.

The effects of all of them on my body.

“You—you can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Kiss me. Touch me … like that.”

“Like that?” He quirks an eyebrow before he leans in and murmurs in my ear. “I just did. And you liked it every bit as much as I did.”

I take a jolting step back. Wanting distance. Needing space.

I shake my head, my voice barely a whisper. “This can’t happen.” My body says differently. “You’re you and I’m me and … and it’s not good for a business relationship if we…”

“You’ll find I don’t care much about norms. Or rules. I don’t like to be boxed in. When I want something, I go after it.”

“First my company and now what? Me?”

His shrug is indifferent, his chuckle even more so, making me feel like I’m once again just a pawn in his undisclosed game. The sting of rejection is confusing considering the taste of his kiss still owns my mind.

“It’s an interesting world you choose to live in, Rowan Rothschild. You want to be treated like the strong, independent woman you are, and yet you keep hanging around with people who only see you as an afterthought, who make it your job to soothe, serve, and settle. It seems to me you aren’t exactly sure how to break free of that stigma even when you’re looking in the eyes of the person who can do that for you.” His challenge is there. It’s in his words. It’s in the lift of his chin and the set of his jaw.

I stare at him, blinking, knowing that he’s right and hating him for it. “What does any of that have to do with you forcing yourself on me?” It’s a lame comeback but it’s easier to focus on the sexual tension vibrating in this small space than it is the truth in his words.

“It doesn’t. It’s just an observation while we’re standing here and you’re hating yourself for wanting me to kiss you again. Wanting me to touch you again. Wanting to feel me driving into you. And make no mistake—I will. Most definitely.”

“You know what? This is ridiculous. You being at the bar. Me coming in here. You kissing me. You … everything.” I shake my head and emit a frustrated sigh. “I have to go back. Gregory is waiting.…” I speak the words, but my feet don’t move, my pulse doesn’t stop thundering through my veins, and my want for him to kiss me again doesn’t dissipate.

Holden’s knowing smile is seductive in and of itself. “Fine. Go back to Gregory. But tell me something,” he says and steps back into my personal space. “Only go if he makes you feel half of how I just did. But he doesn’t and you know it. I know it. And that scares the shit out of you, doesn’t it?” He reaches out and places his hand on the side of my face so his thumb can brush over my bottom lip. I freeze at the simple but intimate touch. “Go back to him, Rowan. Sit down. Continue that conversation with him that is so stimulating you’re looking at me every few seconds.”

“Fuck you.”

He chuckles. “That’s the hope.” He walks past me, unlocks the door, and looks back at me. “I’ll be waiting in the parking lot when you quit being stubborn and realize I’m right. And Rowan? I don’t have to force myself on anybody. Your hands fisted in my shirt and your tongue between my lips? That said as much.”

I stare at the door long after he walks out of it, trying to process his words, his actions … his kiss. His touch. And it’s only when the door swings open and I’m met with a wide-eyed customer with a “whoa” on his lips seeing me there that I storm out of the bathroom and back to our table at the bar.

Gregory lights up when he sees me. “Everything okay? You look flushed.”

My smile is quick and most likely insincere to Gregory as I take my seat. “I’m fine. There was a line. It was hot. You know how women’s restrooms are.”

He furrows his brow. “Can’t say I’ve ever been in one, but sure. Yeah.” He laughs and I manage to do the same as I glance over to the bar where Holden was sitting.

He’s not there.