RISK(40)

His hand goes to my waist, edging me back against the closed door. His breath, laced with the lingering aroma of a midday shot of something thick and strong, maybe whiskey, blows over my lips. "Let's call it even since you followed me last night."

I try to look away, surprised that there's a flush creeping over my cheeks. His hand jumps to cup my chin. His eyes, dark and unyielding, stare into mine.

"I did," I admit. "I didn't mean to. It just happened."

"It never just happens." He slicks his tongue over his bottom lip. "I didn't just happen to arrive at the restaurant three minutes after you and Liam did. I was on the sidewalk outside Matiz when I saw him wave to you as you left the store. I watched you greet him. One kiss from him on your left cheek and a hand, your right one, on his forearm."

I swallow hard trying to suppress all the anger I'm feeling. I'd noticed Nolan almost immediately when he took a seat four tables over from where I was sitting with Liam. I felt his eyes on me until he left the restaurant five minutes before I did. I was tempted to skip our meeting, but curiosity wouldn't let me. "You had no right to do that. I was having lunch with him to talk about something important to me."

"You had no right to follow me last night." His eyes drop to my chest before they trail back to my face.

He's right. I didn't have a right, but I had a need. An overwhelming need to see where his driver was taking him.

"I was curious. I wanted to know where you were going." I try to jerk my chin free, but his grip is too tight. It's firm, tender, the promise of that touch on my body keeps me in place. I ask the question that's been silently haunting me since last night. "Did you go there to meet a woman?"

He looks directly at me, his voice calm and in control. "No."

"Did you f*ck someone else last night after you f*cked me?" My heart is racing with the uncertainty of how I'll feel if he tells me he did.

"No, Ellie. Absolutely not."

"Why did you go to that building?"

He pauses. "I live there."

I shake my head, curbing my urge to push him away from me. "You live in the apartment you took me to. The one we f*cked in."

His chin drops faintly. It's so slight that it's barely noticeable. "I own the apartment that I took you to. I used to live there. I don't anymore, but some of my things are still there."

"You made me believe that you live there now." I stare into his eyes. He can't win this. I won't let him. I'm not going to be made a fool of by a man again. Ever.

"I let you assume that I live there now, Ellie," he says roughly.

I clear my throat. "So you don't have a hotel room that you take women to? You have an entire apartment?"

His phone buzzes in the pocket of his suit jacket. "I haven't taken any other woman there recently."

"Recently?" I spit out a laugh. It's a joyless sound inflated with bitterness. As much as I haven't admitted it to myself, I wanted to be different. I didn't want to be just one of many to him. Not to him. "What is recent to you? Two days ago? Three? A few hours? When's the last time a woman was there with you?"

"Five years, three months, fourteen days."

The precision of his answer jars me enough that it catches my breath. "What?"

"It's been a long time." He skips past the oddity of his last reply as if it means nothing. "I take women I want to f*ck to an Executive Suite at the Bishop Hotel."

"You didn't take me there."

He leans in, pressing his lips to my temple. "I want more than to f*ck you, Ellie."

"What do you want?" I look up and into his eyes. They've softened, transitioned from defensive to open.

"I want to know you. I want you to know me."

***

"You already know me." I push my hands against his chest, but the man is solid. He's a wall. "You commissioned a complete background check on me when you hired me."

"Is that so?" He smiles.

"Yes." I nod toward his desk. "You had a file with my name on it on your desk when I came in that morning with my list of security improvements."

He doesn't flinch. "You're very aware of everything around you. I was surprised you didn't realize a car was following you last night while you were following me."

Shit. I didn't think of that. Why would I think of that?

"Was it a security detail?" I scan his face, looking for some subtle reaction but there's nothing.

"Yes. That's exactly what it was."

"Why?" I hesitate a moment, then ask. "Why would you need that? You own a cosmetics company. It's not like you're the President of the United States."

That draws a smile to his lips. "A man doesn't need to run a country to require extra security sometimes, Ellie."

"Elaborate on what that means."

"It means that people, other than the President, need security."

"Why do you need personal security?" I press my hands against his chest again, but there's no movement on his part. He won't budge. "Are you in trouble?"

"Define trouble." He dips his chin, the grin on his lips widening.