Bound for Me (Be for Me #4)(25)

And he didn’t want to either, right? All he wanted was to know what she really wanted.

“Get your boots on, there’s a bathroom just through that door,” he nodded his head in the direction. “I’ll be waiting out in the lounge.”

He’d have laughed at the look of profound relief on her face, if he weren’t feeling so edgy. He didn’t bother grabbing a coat, too hot. He buzzed down to the porter to bring his car round the back entrance.

She emerged from the bedroom, looking too pale and wobbly. Like a freaking newborn lamb. But was she as innocent?

He drew her to the elevator rather than the narrow spiral stairs.

“This is a guest apartment?” She gave the lounge a vague glance.

“Staff,” he answered blandly, not about to elaborate. He jabbed the elevator button a couple more times.

She didn’t question more. Yeah, not really one for small talk. In fact, she didn’t utter a word during the entire drive to her building. Was out of the car before he could get around to open her door for her. Refusing to act the invalid wasn’t she?

Refusing to accept any help whatsoever.

His irritation spiked and he walked her right to her door, just to annoy her.

And because he couldn’t quite leave her yet.

“Any headaches, nausea, anything. Call me. Or if you can’t bring yourself to call me, at least call Austin.” He handed her a card with Austin’s mobile number on it.

“You think I’m ungrateful,” she said baldly, not looking up at him.

“I think you’re confused.” He ran his finger over her beautiful mouth. “I’m not the baddie here.”

But she just might be.

She’d frozen under his touch. He couldn’t hear her breathing, wasn’t sure he was breathing either.

Lust surged. He wanted to kiss her, everywhere. He wanted to see her this time—to watch her as he made her come. Wanted to taste her the way he hadn’t the other night. Wanted to hear those gorgeous moans again. Wanted to feel her utterly naked body under his, over his, embracing his—wet and writhing again.

She was so f*cking hot.

And now? Now her eyes were wide and her breathing had restarted, raggedly. Color had returned to her cheeks and—

She stepped back, turning to quickly stab her key in the lock.

He stood on the doorstep, sending her a mocking smile as she slammed the door in his face. He heard the lock snib.

She’d bolted. Literally.

Slowly he walked back down the path to his car, welcoming the bitterly cold breeze. It reminded him of what really mattered. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with her at all. Last night he should have taken her to Austin’s medical suite and put her out of his mind.

He’d wasted enough time flicking ‘stop’ and ‘go’ switches on the slopes as it was in this last week, let alone chase skirt now.

If he wanted to push his company forward, he needed to eliminate distractions.

Savannah Hughes was the ultimate distraction.

But damn if she wasn’t strong. Damn if she wasn’t sexy. Damn if he didn’t still want her with every fiber of his being.

And damn he was a fool.

He didn’t trust her. She’d been evasive. Hadn’t denied his accusation. Hadn’t answered his questions. She was worse than a distraction, she was quite possibly dangerous.

He knew the adage—keep friends close, enemies closer. He needed to be certain she wasn’t a threat to his company. And there was that part of him that needed to know that she wasn’t threatened in any way.

And the only way to be certain of both those things, was to keep her very, very close.





Chapter Six





“You’re not serious?” Luca looked up from his iPad when Savannah walked in through the back entrance. “You’re not working tonight.”

“Of course I am,” She tugged off her jacket and hung it in the small staff cupboard. “You told me only yesterday morning how worried you were about staff shortages while your parents were away.”

“We can manage tonight.” He walked round the bench and pulled her jacket back out again.

“What, you’re going to stop kissing Krista all the time?” She raised her eyebrows, surprised at his rare display of authority.

He held the jacket out to her. “You’re not working the shift.”

Yes, she was. She’d stood under the hot shower for hours this morning, trying to wash away the icky feeling. Couldn’t. She’d tried to sleep. Couldn’t. Tried to watch a movie on the small television in the sparsely furnished unit. Couldn’t concentrate. But the pathetic thing it wasn’t the jerks she was thinking about all the time.

It was Connor.

So no way was she spending another minute trapped in her too-small room over thinking everything to do with him.

“You’re short staffed. Said yourself you needed a more experienced bartender to cope with the crowds. I’m it. Dante’s not ready to face it on his own yet.”

Dante was Luca’s younger brother, only just legal to even work there.

“You were drugged. I’m not even sure I should be opening tonight.”

“Of course you should. And I’m here to run the bar while you run the restaurant. It wasn’t anything to do with St Clair’s. It wasn’t your fault. If they ever catch who it was… I don’t see why the restaurant’s name will even be mentioned. I was the one dumb enough to leave my water-bottle unattended.”