Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
My gaze tangles with his, and every ounce of breath in my lungs rushes out in a strangled exhale. He's angry. Furious even. It roils in his onyx eyes like storm clouds.
"Come in and close the door." His familiar voice rolls over me in a tidal wave, puckering my nipples. It's so deep. So decadent. Like smooth caramel. Only there's a bite to it that wasn't there six years ago. Anger.
I stumble over my own feet in my haste to obey and quickly shut the door. And then I stand there, my hands at my sides, desperately trying not to fidget or blurt any of the thoughts running through my mind in a dizzying parade.
He's changed. And yet he's exactly the same beautiful man I've been dreaming about for far longer than I should have been.
"You're the new intern."
"Y-yes," I whisper.
"What's your name?"
I don't want to lie to him…but I do it anyway. "Jillian."
Something flares in his eyes. "Have we met before?"
"Maybe." I lick my lips, skirting the razor's edge between the truth and an outright lie. "I meet a lot of people through my father."
"Ah, yes. The mayor." A flash of scorn dances through his expression before he schools it. "If you're here to try to convince us to endorse his bid for governor, the answer is no."
"I'm not."
He cocks his head to the side, waiting to hear me out.
"I'm sure that's what he wants, but I'm here for me."
"Why?"
"Why?" I repeat.
"Why are you here?"
"I..." I hesitate, which seems to annoy him. "I've dreamed about working here for years." I've dreamed about you since I met you. "I just want one chance to show you what I'm made of."
"Mmm." He leans against the edge of his desk, studying me intently. "Are you certain we haven't met before?"
"I…I don't think so?"
"Perhaps at a party?"
"I don't go to many parties," I mumble, glancing at my feet.
"Really?" A triumphant smile curves his lips as if I've slipped up and said something wrong. "I'd think the mayor would have you out being seen all over town."
My stomach sinks into my shoes.
Crap. He knows. He's toying with me, trying to get me to confess that I'm not Jillian. Is that why he's angry? Because he knows I'm lying?
"I'm in school," I say, doggedly sticking to my cover.
He pushes away from the desk, striding toward me. Every step he takes sends my heart rate ratcheting up a notch. It thumps against my ribcage like a battering ram.
"You're a terrible liar, Ms. Rhett," he murmurs, stopping so close I smell his cologne swirling around me. I feel the heat coming off him. His eyes aren't completely black. Tiny flecks of gold dot the irises like little veins in solid rock.
"I'm not l-lying." I'm not even convincing to myself, certainly not to this man.
"Not about everything," he agrees. "You are in school. I think you have dreamed about working here. You don't want me to endorse your father. But you do remember me." He places one finger beneath my chin, tipping my head back. "Isn't that right, December?"
Oh, no. This is worse than bad. It's a freaking Christmas disaster. I haven't even been here three full hours, and I'm already busted.
Note to self: Never listen to Jillian's idiotic ideas ever again.
"I'm not...."
"Lie to me again, and you'll pay for it bent over my knee with your perfect ass in the air," he growls.
"I…"
One dark brow shoots upward. He means it. And God help me, the thought of his rough palm against my ass is intriguing in ways I never considered before right this moment. But I think I want this man to spank me. I want him to punish me.
"Tell me the truth, sweet angel."
"Please," I whimper, not sure if I'm pleading with him to spank me or if I'm pleading for him to release me from his spell. I can't think, and I desperately need to think. There's too much at stake here, like my entire freaking future.
"Tell me," he croons the command, pulling me deeper under his spell. "What's your name?"
"J-Jillian."
Darkness flares in his eyes. His hand slips down, encircling my throat. He pulls me closer to him, dragging me right up against his body.
"Little liar," he whispers then, brushing his lips across mine in a featherlight kiss I feel reverberating in my soul like the strike of a gong. I think he feels it too. He groans like a man pushed to the edge, his chest shuddering against mine. "When I figure out why you're lying, you won't be able to sit down for a week, December."
He releases me, taking a step back.
I stare at him in wide-eyed shock for a long, silent moment, and then I do the only thing I know to do. I flee.
Chapter Four
Alaric
Ifucked up. I learn that lesson acutely over the next four days. December avoids me at every turn. If I enter the design studio, she scurries out. If she's in the lounge, she quickly vanishes out of another exit.