Bewitching You(10)

“I’ve got a meeting to get to. Why don’t you just tell me what I have to do to get rid of these dreams?” He edged toward her with his perfect lips pursed into a thin line. His hands fisted at his sides. Sheesh. Where inside him did the gentle man from her dreams exist?

“I can’t get rid of them.” She started to back away. Her hands itched to swipe the perspiration from her forehead, but she kept them at her sides.

“Can’t or won’t? What is it you want from me?”

“I, uh—” She found the wall behind her and stared up at him as he moved within centimeters.

Her heartbeat thrummed through her veins and pulsed heavy in her head. She couldn’t think. The loving man from her dreams was so close, yet still out of reach.

Minutes passed, it seemed, as he stared at her with a cool dark eyes.

Finally, he lifted his finger and brushed it across her bottom lip.

Sofia froze, startled by his touch.

“Do you know what I do to you, what you do to me in these dreams?” A familiar spark of hunger flashed through his eyes, but other than that, it was difficult to describe the look on his face.

“Yes. I know exactly what we both do.” She pressed her hand to his chest for two reasons—to keep him from getting any closer and to see if he, at least, felt like the man from her dreams.

He did. He was warm and really solid, and his heart beat ferociously under his crisp shirt. As he lowered his head down to her lips, Sofia inhaled his familiar scent. It was her Gray. And yet it wasn’t.

His lips lightly brushed her mouth, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the possibilities.

Should she kiss him? Grab him by his neck and force it? Was she going to fight for him? Was it worth it?

It was. She knew it was, but before she could do anything or say anything, his lips grazed her ear.

“Did you know?” He paused to pull in a breath.

“What? Did I know what?” Her fingers trembled against his chest as she forced herself to hold them still when they so wanted to touch every part of him.

“Did you know that you…that you had my cock in your mouth last night?” He whispered and stood motionless.

A sharp breath gushed from her lips at the bluntness of his words. Yep, she’d had that dream as well. The act had been loving and meaningful. Not a tawdry affair between strangers. Not like how he was treating her today.

Damn him. The only explanation for his behavior was he was trying to scare her away. He wasn’t ready for her yet. But she was too stubborn to give up now. She wouldn’t leave here without letting him know that he didn’t break her.

“Did I like it?” She bravely skimmed her hand down to his noticeable erection. At least this part of him wanted her. In time he’d grow to love her. Fate would show them the way.

Before she could grasp him, he grabbed both of her hands and pinned them above her head. He pressed her body against the wall with his steely frame. His muscled leg slid between her thighs.

Her body reacted, both startled by the sudden invasion and thrilled to have him so close. Her legs trembled against his as her pulse thrummed. She licked her lips, waited for his next move. Would he kiss her?

A myriad of emotions passed over his face, none of them soothing. “Is this what you want, Sofia? Do you want me to f*ck you? Will that stop the goddamn dreams?”

She tensed, mortified. Her stomach flip-flopped, sick with disappointment. But she was not going to cry. She wasn’t going to let him win. “I wish I could stop them,” she said, gritting her teeth. “I wish I dreamed of a different man, a man who wasn’t a piece of work.”

“Then you have to stop them.”

“I can’t!” Her eyes burned with unwanted tears. Damn it.

“Why not?”

“Because I dream of the future, you ass. And apparently you do, too, now.”

Well, that did the trick. He released her hands and stepped away, shaking his head. “Please, just leave,” he said in a low voice, as he reached for the door handle. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“Fine with me.” Sofia regrouped by sniffing back her tears and heading toward the door.

Maybe this would prevent her future with this…this jerk from happening. Maybe the dreams would stop now. Because letting him touch her again was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

But before she could yank the door open, he grabbed her arm and stopped her from leaving.

“Hey,” he whispered softly, confusing her. “I’m sorry I made you cry. I didn’t… I’m just sorry. But you’re not the woman for me.”

Sofia tore her arm from his loose grasp, but didn’t dare look up at him. He didn’t deserve to ever see her again. “I hope you’re right,” she said, and left.

~ * ~

With his pulse pounding at his neck, Gray watched Sofia rush through the lobby and hit the elevator down button repeatedly. She didn’t look back when the doors opened and then closed behind her.

He’d hurt her. And, damn, seeing her shake, seeing her eyes tear up, had knotted something inside of him. His stupid f*cking mouth. He hadn’t expected tears. He hadn’t expected to regret pushing her away. It was easier to pretend she was of no importance when she was simply a vision in his head. But each new second he spent with her in reality forced him to recognize she was more than that. Much more. She was a human being with feelings. And he’d purposely pulverized them.

Gray knew better than that. Even if she was a little nuts, thinking she could dream of the future, he should’ve handled the situation better.

Instead, he’d been cruel.

What the hell was wrong with him? What was he becoming? He’d never treated a woman that poorly. Truth be told, in the past he’d been considered the nice twin. Friends had gone to him when they needed a shoulder to lean on. They’d gone to Hayes to have a good time.

Now, neither of those men existed.

“Um, Mr. Phillips.” Sandy stood in front of him with one of her penciled eyebrows vaulted dramatically.

Gray stopped and glanced around. He hadn’t realized he’d walked out into the lobby toward the elevators. What was he going to do? Follow her?

Give in to the thoughts that had been flooding through his mind while he’d had her backed against the wall?

He’d almost lost control in his office. Her enticing sweet vanilla scent, her blue eyes staring up at him, her glossy full lips pouting, her hand on his chest lowering to feel his stiffening erection, the softness of her breasts as he pressed up against her—it was all Sofia in the flesh, not some dream.

Authentic. Tangible. Sensual.

Stop.

He had to think of Rachel. I might be an ass, but I’m not a cheater.

“Mr. Phillips?” Sandy waved her long artificial fingernails in his face. “Anybody home in there?”

“Sorry.” Gray straightened his tie. “I was, uh, thinking.”

“I could see that.” She slid a red fingernail down the seam of her low v-neck sweater. “That wasn’t your fiancée, was it?”

“No.” He didn’t bother explaining. It wasn’t any of her business. “Do you need something?”

Her lips curved coquettishly. Gray knew that particular smile quite well. It was the same one he’d gotten from numerous women who’d ended up in his bed over the years before he met Rachel.

“I do need something,” she winked, “but it’ll have to wait. You’re late for a little appointment. Mr. Linden called while you were in your office with that woman. I didn’t want to interrupt. The conversation seemed pretty heated.”

“Oh, shit.” Gray hurried to his office to grab his materials. The clock on the wall said he was fifteen minutes late.

Damn.

He picked up his boards, closed the office door behind him, and ran directly into Mr. Linden.

Mike Linden was a small man. Five and a half feet tall, and he couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds judging by the way he dropped to the floor like a feather.

Gray apologized, and sweat beaded his brow. He held out a hand for Linden to take, but his boss proudly pushed it away and rose to his feet on his own. The small elderly man dusted off his suit jacket as he glared up at Gray.

“Phillips,” he said, while sweeping back a lock of silver-streaked hair, “you screwed up.”

“It won’t happen again, sir.” Gray hated groveling, but he had screwed up and needed to dig himself out of the hole he’d created. “Is Bud B. still here? I’ll apologize to him myself. I’m sure he won’t mind once he sees—”

“Nope.” Linden put his hand up. “He left. He’s a busy man, and you making him wait put a dark cloud over this entire company.”

“Then I’ll call him and explain.” There had to be some way. Gray couldn’t simply give up.