“If you’re going to tell me I’m mad, don’t say it. Don’t lie to me either and tell me that wasn’t what you were thinking.”
“I don’t make a habit of lying to people.”
He pressed down on her bottom lip. “Only to yourself?”
She stared into his eyes. Blood pumped through her veins and sped up her heart. Heat spread down her neck and tightened her breasts until her nipples tingled. She was intensely aware of the spot where he pushed his thigh against hers. A mix of shock and excitement too much like forbidden lust rushed through her. The sensations he evoked were even stronger than when they’d been teenagers.
She jerked her head to the side to escape his touch. “To no one.”
“You’re lying to yourself, now.”
“About what?”
“Telling yourself Henry is the security you need. Telling yourself you don’t want to kiss me.”
“You think you can read my mind?” she asked with a sarcastic laugh.
His gaze trailed in a slow path over her body, heating her skin with a flush in the wake of the visual caress. He set her on fire without even touching her.
“I don’t have to read your mind. Your body tells me everything I need to know.”
She blew out a puff of air. “I’m not one of your fainting fans, Ivan.”
“Clearly not.” In one, swift movement, he turned in his seat and threw his thigh over her legs to straddle her lap.
Crying out in surprise, she pushed on his shoulders. “What are you doing?”
“Collecting a promise I made myself in the elevator.”
She could only gape for a second before leaning to the side to look over his shoulder. “Ben—”
“Relax, I’m not going to do anything you don’t want.”
Donald twisted around. “Ivan, are you out of your fucking mind?”
Ivan ignored him, holding her eyes. “I promise you, though, before this concert is over, you will beg me to kiss you and a whole lot more.”
“Stop the car,” she said.
Ben glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Ivan? What the hell?”
Ivan lowered his head. “Ben, Donald, eyes in the front, please. I’m going to kiss Ms. Jones now and some privacy will be appreciated.”
“The only thing you’ll kiss is my ass,” she snapped.
“Gladly. I’ll eat it for you, too.”
He moved one hand between the seat and her back, pushing her to his chest, while he curled the other around the nape of her neck. His lips didn’t touch hers, but his closeness was enough to make her dizzy. The clean smell of soap and fresh linen wrapped around her while warmth seeped from his body into hers. With a palm on the small of her back, he shifted her forward an inch, just enough for his hard-on to press against the juncture of her legs. Despite the position, there was nothing demanding or urgent in the way he held her. For a moment, she wanted to forget Donald and Ben, but mostly herself, and give over to the powerful sensations coursing through her body, but even as his embrace was all give and no take, this was about him, about proving a point.
She pushed away, her breathing labored. “Get off.”
He complied, lifting his leg over her and sitting back down in his own seat.
“Ben, stop the car,” she said. “You’re not authorized to drive it.”
Ben glanced at Donald, who nodded. Her door was open before he’d pull onto the curb.
Chapter 3
For the rest of the way, Alice drove them in silence, gripping the steering wheel hard so the men wouldn’t see how her hands were shaking. All her intentions to remain unmoved had been shot to hell. Her overheated body was proof of that, as well as her temper that fluctuated between annoyance and anger. Mostly annoyance. Ivan had managed to shatter her perfect composure in less than a second with as little as a touch. To regain her calm, she pretended he didn’t exist and she didn’t feel his eyes burning at the back of her head.
Inside the underground parking of the theater, Ivan caught her wrist before she could get into the elevator.
“We need to talk.”
She pulled her arm free. “I have nothing to say to you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’ve got plenty to say.”
“You lost that right nine years ago when you walked out on me without as much as a word, no explanation, no excuse.” She added quietly, “Including the right to touch me.”
Ben, who stood a step behind them with Donald, laid a hand on Ivan’s shoulder. “Let it go, man. The lady said no.”
Ivan shook off Ben’s touch without breaking eye contact with her. “You want explanations? You want excuses? I have a few excuses to collect myself, so let’s say what needs to be said. This will be your one and only chance to talk about what happened, because there’s one thing you have to understand. I’m back to collect. From now on, there’ll only be going forward.”