Bound Beneath His Pain (Dirty Little Secrets 1)

“Allie?” he asks softly.

I blink away from the spell of him, feeling every hair on my body rise, awareness of the man next to me overwhelming. “Yes. Sorry.” I smile, blinking twice more. “Drifted off there for a minute.” But I hadn’t. No, I realize so much now.

Micah’s not like the man my mother described as her ex-husband, he’s not even like my half-brother, he’s something more, and I can no longer deny the truth. With my judgment of him gone, all that remains is a flowing heat and electricity pinging between us, and so much more.

His eyes narrow and he’s watching me intently. Part curiosity, part intrigue in my shift in mood toward him, I’m sure. But that intense emotion I feel coming from him interests me more, because for this to happen between us, he needs to be this guy I’m seeing without the armor he always keeps up. “This charity is clearly personal to you. Can I ask why?”

His jaw clenches, eyes darting. I instantly realize I’ve hit a nerve.

Then, “Holt prides itself on charity work.”

The people, the noise, the activity around me drift away as I watch Micah walk from me with wide steps. I see him drop down with a group of children doing magic tricks, addressing each and every child in the group by name.

r /> I’ve felt a lot of things with men. Attraction, seduction, even friendship; this is something I don’t know. It’s forceful, yanking me in so fiercely I feel like I can’t stop it, and all I can do is feel my heart banging against my chest.

Somehow he’s reaching my soul, tangling curiosity around me so tightly.

“His hot level hit the roof, right?”

I startle and jerk my head sideways, finding Liv. “What?” I manage.

Her eyes are dancing as she gestures at Micah, who now has three boys wrestling with him, while he’s tickling them into hysterics. “Look at that hunk surrounded by all those kids. Like I said, if he wasn’t hot before, he is now.”

My chest aches when I look at Micah. I don’t agree with Liv, not that I’ll tell her that. Micah’s always been hot. The chemistry between us is undeniable. But this makes him real. He’s forcing me to see something I didn’t before.

I see the man behind Holt, behind the suit, and behind the money.

I see a man with ghosts.

Liv continues, awe in her tone. “Who would have believed that he’s so sweet.”

“Not me,” I whisper. But he is sweet. In fact, he’s more than sweet, I’m beginning to think.

Micah flops back on the ground, raising his hands in surrender and declaring himself the loser, sending the children around him running away, laughing and squealing in pride. I think I can’t possibly be more impressed by him, but I’m quickly proven wrong, when the cutest little blond girl, wearing a crown and a purple princess dress, begins to paint Micah’s fingernails sparkly pink.

I tilt my head, listening to their conversation. “I’m gonna make you pretty,” the little girl says with a big grin.

“Thank you very much, Princess Gracie,” Micah replies, watching her work.

Liv nudges me on the arm and says, slyly, “Rethinking saying no to a date with him?”

I shrug at her, it being the only honest answer I can give. If only dating Micah were so easy. If only he weren’t a billionaire and perfectly happy living a simple life. If only he weren’t in the public eye and my dating him wouldn’t expose my secrets. There are too many huge if only’s to take that leap.

I can’t forget that.

But then his smoky eyes meet mine, clearly catching me looking at him, and my breath hitches, tingles rush in my veins, and everything becomes so very uncomplicated. I want to know why he gives me butterflies. I want to know all the complicated layers to him. I want to accept the way he’s offering himself to me now, bearing the real him to me, not showing me the man he projects as a shield.

And if I’m being honest, I want to know his secrets, while that gorgeous man is delivering on his dark and sensual promises.

Micah

Loud grunts and heavy breathing fill the air around me, as I drop my duffel bag down next to the mixed martial arts cage in Frisco’s Gym in North Beach. I reach inside my bag, grabbing out my ringing phone. “Holt,” I say into it.

“Micah, it’s Travis. Anderson and Isabella are here on speaker, too.”

Everyone knows I come to the gym before my lunch hour. The fact that no one wants to wait until I return to the office to arrange a meeting tells me I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear.

I drop down onto the bench, staring out at the boxing ring across the gym, watching two men pound the hell out of each other. “What’s up?”