Diamonds (All that Glitters #1)(10)

With a resigned sigh, she finally placed her hand in his. It wouldn’t matter if she spent time with Gates if there was no one else in her life. Plus, it would look good to leave with him. “Fine. We’ll talk about this later,” she admonished.

Gates pulled her close, planted a kiss on her temple, and then helped her into the passenger seat of his convertible. He nodded at the girls still gawking at him, walked around the car, and then hopped over the door into the driver’s seat.

Show-off.

They pulled out of the parking lot, and she immediately turned to him in frustration. “That was a dirty trick you pulled.”

He smirked. “How else was I going to get you to come to my place?”

“Your place?” she asked. “I am not going to your place.”

“Oh? We’re already on our way. And it’s for the better, right? Otherwise, I would have had to throw you over my shoulder and tie you to my bed to get you to talk to me,” he said, his blue eyes shining with glee. “Now, I know you would have just hated that. Wouldn’t you have, Bri?”

She glared at him harder. The goddamn man knew her too well. “Don’t f*cking kid yourself, Gates.”

“Well, you’re coming to my place whether you want to or not. So, you can wipe off that eat-shit look on your face.”

“Whatever. We’re not even together anymore.”

“A phone call three weeks ago at four o’clock in the morning isn’t enough to end things with me, Bri. I’m not one of your pets or one of your goddamn followers.”

She huffed and looked away from him. Her hair whipped all around her head as Gates navigated the traffic into Los Angeles in silence and then pulled into the gated community where he lived.

Once his car was parked, he guided her straight up to his bedroom and shut the door behind her. She beelined for the bathroom to check out what the convertible had done to her hair. As she’d suspected, she looked like a hot mess. She finger-combed the tangled tresses.

“Bri,” Gates groaned, leaning against the doorframe.

“What?” she asked. She definitely needed a brush to fix the rest of the damage.

“I’ve been gone a long time.” He walked up behind her and slid his hand across her stomach. She shouldered him aside as she worked on her hair some more.

“And?”

“Too damn long,” he murmured. He ignored her attempts to dislodge him and kissed along her shoulder.

“What do you want, Gates?” she snapped.

He grabbed her by the arm and swung her to face him. “I don’t think you’re listening, babe.”

“No, I don’t think you’re listening! If you think that cornering me at school and dragging me to your house is going to change what I said, then you’re wrong. I told you, we are through. I don’t care if it was on the phone, where you were, what time it was. It’s over.”

His hands slid down her arms and wrapped around her waist. “I shouldn’t have to fight this hard for you to want this.”

“Just because you can’t get other * doesn’t mean I can’t get other cock,” she said, arching an eyebrow. It was a low dig, even for her. Hardly even true, but she couldn’t help herself.

But he smirked insufferably. “Bri, cut the shit. You and I both know, * is easy to come by.”

His hand went to the front of her skintight black jeans. He snapped the button, dragged the zipper down, and had his hand inside her panties before she could move away. A moan escaped her lips as he swirled his finger around her.

“But you’re different,” he whispered into her ear. “I want you.”

“Fuck, Gates.” She stumbled back a step and shook her head. “You’re not listening.”

“No, I’m not f*cking listening.” He easily cleared the distance and scooped her up into his arms.

Christ, when did he get so strong? He’d been able to lift her before, but now, he carried her as if she weighed no more than a feather.

He tossed her back on the bed, and as he stripped his shirt off, she really took notice.

He looked like he had been in the gym every waking moment when he wasn’t filming. She knew that the film needed him to be bigger, but f*ck, he had sculpted abs, built arms, and that wonderful V leading—

No, she was not going to look lower.

Okay. So, she looked lower. And damn.

Fuck, he had always been good-looking, but now…he was off the charts.

His eyes turned into molten lava when he caught her watching him. He was one cocky motherf*cker. His pants followed his shirt, and then he was yanking her jeans off her body.

She should have stopped him and made him reconsider. She had f*cked Jude three weeks ago. She had wanted it. She still wanted it. But she had put the ball in his court, and he hadn’t called her. No one did that to Bryna Turner. Of course, he didn’t know who she really was. That didn’t matter though, because they’d had an amazing time, and she had put on a spectacular performance. Now, she was left wondering why the hell he wasn’t interested.

“Wait,” she cried, realizing Gates’s lips were crawling up her leg. “I slept with someone else.”

Gates sat back and fixed his gaze on her. “I gathered that, based on our conversation.”

She glared at him. “Why don’t you care about that?”