Hurricane Hearts (Storm MC Reloaded 1)

His gaze dropped to my body and he took his time with my curves before meeting my eyes again. A smile that should be banned was fixed on his face. Coming to a stop in front of me, he said, “I never thought it possible for you to get sexier than you were five years ago, Angel, but you have.”

My brain all but melted. And seriously, the same could be said about him, but I wasn’t going there. He didn’t need to know I’d spent time thinking about the muscles he’d packed on since we’d broken up or that I dreamed of the ink he’d covered those muscles with. Nope, I wasn’t ever going there with him because he’d never let me forget it.

“I’m not sleeping with you,” I blurted as my brain worked furiously to gather some sense.

He arched a brow, amused. “I always did love the way your mind jumped from A to K, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here?”

“To take you to dinner.”

“I told you no.” He’d been trying to get me to agree to dinner all damn week. Saying no was proving harder each time.

He didn’t reply to that but rather spread his feet a little wider and planted his body like he was settling in. Like he had no intention of taking a refusal from me.

I knew this strategy of his. The first to talk would lose. So I too settled in, ready to make it very clear I never intended to say yes.

We stood silently watching each other, duelling for the win. After thirty seconds, I worried about my chances of winning. I sucked at silence. And he knew this about me.

I lasted another thirty seconds before saying, “We’re not going for dinner.” With that, I turned and stalked back to the office to grab my bag.

Cleo looked up as I barged in. “Are you okay?”

I snatched my bag up and shook my head. “No. I need to get out of here fast.” As she looked at me puzzled, I added, “Winter’s here trying to force me into a date.”

Her mouth formed a perfect O. Waving me away, she said, “Okay, go. And let me know about your date after.”

I nodded and headed back out of the office, intent on breezing past Winter and leaving him far, far behind. He, however, had other ideas. I ran smack bang into his hard chest as I exited the office.

“Jesus,” I muttered, hands to his stomach, my gaze meeting his. “I have to leave, Winter. I have a date to get ready for.” I hadn’t intended on throwing that last part in because I didn’t really want to use it as a weapon against his forcefulness, but it slipped out before I could stop it.

His body stilled; I felt it while my hands were still on him. “With the dickhead you mentioned the other night?”

I dropped my hands. “The dickhead?”

“Yeah.” His voice was gruff, his shoulders tense—I’d managed to throw him off. Hopefully enough so I could leave before we got into more of a conversation than we already had.

“Patrick isn’t a dickhead. But I don’t have time to stand here and debate that.” I checked my watch. Totally didn’t need to, though. I still had plenty of time to get ready. “I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re not into this guy, Birdie.”

Something about his tone or the way he said that pissed me off. “Oh really? And how do you know that?”

“Everything about the way you are with me tells me that.”

“God, you are so arrogant sometimes.”

His eyes bored into mine, demanding something from me I didn’t have to give. The truth. “I just call shit like I see it.”

“Yeah well, you see it wrong this time.”

“No,” he said with complete conviction, “I don’t. But you go on that date, Angel. You try to convince yourself I’m wrong. I’ll still be here waiting for you when you realise I’m not.”

I would. I’d make tonight’s date the most amazing date I’d ever been on. I’d bloody show Winter he was wrong. Surely I’d been wrong thinking Patrick was boring. I could totally make this work.

“Don’t wait too long,” I said as I brushed past him. “I’d hate for you to die an old man all alone.”

His chuckle was the last thing I heard as I left the studio. God, how I hated that chuckle. But damn if I didn’t love it too.