Page 18 of Break Me Not

“You're right. I knew who you were.”

She let out a sigh, took off her glasses, and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking back up at me.

“And you decided to spend two million of your hard-earned dollars on me. Don't you think it would've been beneficial to remind me that I was your best friend's mother?”

I wasn't fast enough to bite my tongue.

“If I did, you wouldn't have slept with me.”

She reached over and slammed her computer shut.

“Of course I wouldn't have. It's inappropriate.”

She was getting ready to leave. Just as she stood from her seat, I grabbed her wrist.

“We're both consenting adults. There's nothing wrong with what happened⁠—”

“Then are you going to tell her? Or should I?”

I paused, dread filling my stomach. Her gaze made my eyes fall down to the desk.

“Come on, Jax. Someone as smart as you… don't tell me you didn't think that far?”

My heart fluttered at her compliment.

“So you think I'm smart?”

I looked up at her with a smile pulling up my lips. For a moment, she looked like she might smile too, but then she pulled her wrist away.

“And that’s why I don't want to talk to you about this anymore.” She gathered her stuff, putting her laptop in an oversize tote bag. “I won't be accepting your services. And I'm going to be the one to tell Claire.”

She walked past me, heading straight toward the door, and by the time I gathered my wits, she was already opening it. Quick as lightning, I got up and pushed it close.

Her breath hitched when my front brushed against her back.

I slid my hand down on the door so my arm was right next to her. So close but not yet touching. Not if she didn’t want me to.

“Free. My services will be free as… payback.”

She stood there, unmoving. “Payback?”

“An apology,” I corrected. I couldn't help myself. My other hand was placed on the wall, inching closer to her body. Fuck, I want to touch her so bad. It was almost impossible keeping my hands to myself. I leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Keep this between us. Everything. For now. And let me apologize like a real woman.”

I didn’t know what I was trying to do. I just knew that I needed to keep her here. Keep her interested. I knew that if I let her walk out without doing something, I would lose my chance.

My chance of what? The voice inside my head had way more sense than I did. It was pushing me. Asking me why I wanted her so bad. Asking me what I would do with her after I had her.

But all I knew was that one taste of her would never be enough for me.

Sloan gave me one last chance by sending me here, and I knew I had to repent if I wanted any type of future with Liz.

“I don't want an apology.”

“A punishment, then?”

The sound of air escaping from her lungs had my heart soaring.

My skin started heating as I thought of all the ways she would punish me. In a single selfish moment, I let my front rest against her back, laying my head down in the crook between her neck and shoulder.