Diamonds (All that Glitters #1)(3)

Then, he was kissing her. The world went dark. The kiss was hot and insistent and as greedy as the music moving through the bodies around them.

His tongue brushed against her lips, and she opened her mouth to let him in. Their tongues met, and she was lost. She voraciously pulled his mouth down onto hers, never wanting to break away.

As the kiss intensified, he turned her around and drew her into his arms. Her body was on fire. Her face was flushed. Her hands clutched the collar of his shirt. She could do this all night.

She broke away, breathless. Her pupils blasted out, and her chest heaved.

Their game was coming to an end. She had forfeited the prize in the heat of the moment on the crowded dance floor.

“Leave with me,” he breathed into her ear.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

He lightly nipped her ear, and she shivered.

“You don’t.”

THE INCLINATION TO LEAVE WITH HIM ate at her like a virus infecting her body. She had been with older men before—not quite as old as him, usually college guys—so it wasn’t just the taboo factor that infatuated her.

It was something about him.

She didn’t know his name, where he was from, what he did. She didn’t know anything. Just that he was married. Separated. She gathered he was wealthy by the fact that he was at this club, wearing an expensive suit, and drinking top-shelf scotch. All these things mattered in her world even if her dad had chosen to ignore them by marrying beneath him.

But what intrigued her the most was precisely that she didn’t know if she could trust him. Yet, without that knowledge, maybe because of the danger and mystery, she still wanted to leave with him.

She was sure it was more than just the fact that she wanted to f*ck him. It was something in his eyes that said he understood her. It was something in his smile that said he identified with what she was going through. It was something in his confidence that said he recognized the act she was putting on. It was something about the desire in that kiss that said he would worship her.

Fuck caution.

“Let’s go,” she said finally.

He smiled smugly as if he always knew things would end this way. Perhaps he had. She hadn’t exactly made it difficult for him. She could have, but she was sure he still would have fought for her.

“I’ll close out my tab,” he told her.

He took her hand and guided her back to the bar.

While he had his back to her, she fished her phone out of her clutch and pulled up Gates’s number. She hit Call and waited. He answered at the last second in a drowsy haze. She hadn’t even considered that she was three hours behind him. The time difference always f*cked with his sleep schedule.

“Babe,” he murmured in greeting.

“It’s over, Gates.”

“Hmm?” He yawned on the other line. “Tonight?”

“No. Forever.”

“What’s going on?” He seemed to be growing more alert.

“I’m breaking it off.”

“You with someone else?”

He didn’t even sound hurt, just curious. She had suspected as much, but it irritated her more than she had thought.

“Yeah.”

“All right. I’ll see you when I get back to L.A.”

“No,” she said, frustrated. “This is really over.”

He chuckled softly into the phone. “Bri, you want other dick. That’s fine.”

“Why is that fine?”

Gates always brought out the more human side of her that she usually hid behind her hard exterior.

“Because I’m on the other side of the country and not able to give you what you need. When I come back, we’ll figure it out.”

She shook her head. Why does he have to take this so calmly?

Fucking *.

“We’re not going to figure it out. I don’t think I should have to dumb it down for you to understand what I’m telling you. I said, it’s over. I mean, it’s over. Good night, Gates.”

She hung up the phone before he could say another word. Well, that was an interesting conversation. Of all the things she had expected from Gates, she hadn’t wagered for disbelief. She was Bryna Turner. She could get any guy she wanted. How could he not believe that I would find someone else? Is he that conceited?

By the time he realized that she was serious, she would be long gone.

“Ready to go?” the man asked, coming up behind her.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He didn’t ask about her conversation, and she was glad. She didn’t want to tell him about it.

“Lead the way,” she told him.

Grabbing her hand, he walked her through the crowded bar and out onto the street. He passed his ticket to the valet. A few minutes later, a shiny Jaguar convertible pulled up in front of Allure.

She raised her eyebrows in appreciation. Her father collected cars, so she had been taught to drive a stick as soon as her feet could reach the pedals. She wouldn’t mind taking this beauty out for a joyride. Her eyes traveled back to the man who was climbing into the driver’s side. Maybe a joyride of a different nature.

“Nice ride,” she said. “XKR-S, next year’s model. This thing goes zero to sixty in about four seconds and has a top speed of, what? One eighty? Two hundred?”