Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)(18)

“Hey,” I said once she’d walked away. My voice was drowned out when the music picked up again. Victor leaned forward, the scruff on his face brushing my right cheek as he reached up to speak into my ear.

“Hey,” he said in a low voice that made me shiver.

“I see you still frequent night clubs,” I said, pulling back a little to look at him.

His eyes heated, lips curled into a smile that told me he was remembering the same thing I was. Us rushing to the bathroom of a crowded club, him tugging the birthday tiara out of my hair, ripping my panties off before putting on a condom and thrusting inside me with a force I’d never experienced. Because of where he was standing, I could feel his breath on my face, smell the hint of alcohol that lingered. The pull I felt was indescribable. It was as if in that small space everything vanished, including all rational thought.

Especially rational thought.

Because when he opened his mouth to say something, surely his next warning, I pressed my lips against his, and when he moved back slightly to steady himself, my body moved with his. He broke the kiss quickly, but not before sliding his tongue into my mouth once, curving in a deep full circle around mine, and thankfully, not before grabbing a fistful of my hair and groaning against my lips. Suddenly it wasn’t the bass of the music thumping through my veins, but the feel of Victor pressed up against me, holding me, and then just like that, with the same quickness in which it had started, he pulled back.

“Nicole,” he said, a warning. I opened my eyes and looked at him.

“Yeah?” I whispered.

“Follow me.”

He turned around and walked down the stairs, and I trailed behind him, rounding the corner of the dimly lit hallway until we reached a door he pushed open. I blinked rapidly, looking around, at the desk, the glass walls beside us that overlooked the club, as my eyes adjusted to the red glow of the office.

“Who’s office is this?” I asked.

“The owner.”

“How do you know the owner?”

Victor tilted his head slightly, stepping closer to me so I had to crane my neck to look into his eyes. My heart lurched at what I saw in them.

“Is that really what you want to discuss?” he asked, his voice low.

“What do you want to discuss?” I whispered.

“You kissed me. In public, Nicole,” he said sternly.

I blinked and blinked again to clear my head of some of the alcohol. “You kissed me back.”

He closed his eyes, letting out a huffing breath. “That was a mistake. This whole thing was a mistake.”

“You mean me? I was a mistake?” I asked, heart rocking a little.

I tried to gather my bearings, but it was a tough night. First I had to watch my soon-to-be ex-husband leave with another woman, and now I was going to have to stand here and listen to the reminder of why Victor and I hadn’t worked out in the past. A mistake. My self-esteem was definitely taking a hit.

“Yes,” he said.

Unable to stand there and listen to him berate me, and knowing that if I left the office and ran to the bathroom it would be to cry, I turned and walked toward the glass, placing my hand against it, feeling the vibrations of the muted house music on the other side, watching the colorful laser lights as they pointed in every which direction. I felt him, rather than heard him come up behind me. It was as if he couldn’t just give me the space I needed. As if he got off on telling me to stay away but also needed to pull me closer. I closed my eyes.

“You weren’t a mistake,” he said, his voice dark and smooth. “Kissing in public was definitely a mistake.”

“We were in a dark stairwell,” I said. “And you know the owner, so even if we were caught on camera you can have the footage erased.”

Victor chuckled behind me and my eyes popped open. I turned around, resting my back against the cold surface behind me, closing my eyes for a beat when I felt the massage of the bass.

“You’d make a decent criminal.”

I smiled, meeting his gaze. “I know how to keep secrets.”

“Nic.”

“Hmm?” I asked, inching closer to him. I wonder what if would feel like to f*ck against this window.

From the way he pulled away from me, I’d either said the words aloud, or he’d read them on my face. He started to pace around the office, running a hand through his hair as he muttered things I couldn’t hear under his breath.

“This isn’t going to work,” he said finally, turning to face me as he stood behind the desk.

“What?”

“This. Us. Me on this case. It’s not going to work.”

“Because you want to f*ck me against the window,” I said.

He gripped the top of the chair tightly and dropped his head, but didn’t comment on what I’d said. “Maybe we should just see each other when we have to . . . for the divorce,” he said.

I let out a laugh. “I didn’t plan to come here tonight, let alone run into you.”

“You’re right,” he said, meeting my gaze. “You’re right, but we should still stick to that plan.”

“As my lawyer, I don’t think you should let me make rash decisions when I’m drunk,” I said. He looked down again, but I saw his smile before he tried to hide it.

“I’m serious, Nicole.”