Fuck.
“Monica?” Cole mutters, narrowing his eyes at me.
I crawl up from the floor and shake off the jitters, patting down my dress like it’s no biggie even though I’m mortified.
“Who is that? What is she doing here?” the girl asks.
“None of your business,” I reply.
She gives me a dirty look. “Whatever. Cole, I’m gonna go, I think.” She turns and gives him one last shoulder squish before leaving. Cole shuts the door right as I run to it, his hand flat on the wood. I swiftly spin on my heels, but he’s right there, a few inches away from me.
“What the hell were you doing in there?” he asks, glaring at me.
I try not to look, I really do, but those muscles are just staring at me, and it’s hard not to notice. I force back the shame. “Checking out the spiders. You’ve got a lot of those.”
He looks confused and then shakes his head. “Don’t make up bullshit.”
My nostrils flare, and I force my eyes to look at him instead of his delicious body. “Fine. I was looking for you, and when you came barging in with that … that …”
“That what?” He playfully raises a brow, a stupid grin on his face.
“Girl,” I say. “I hid. Happy now?”
I don’t care who she is. I search for the door handle with my hand, but when I try to open it, he stops me. With a hand firmly on the door, his arm right beside my body, he blocks the way. “No. Not at all.”
Fine. He wants to play this the hard way? He’s got it. “You invited me here, remember?” I say, putting my hands against my side. “What? Cat’s got your tongue?”
He smirks and lowers his eyes. A snort follows right after when his head drops between his shoulders. “No … I didn’t forget.”
“Then what? Why the hell did you invite me backstage, Cole?” I ask. “When you weren’t even here in your room. When you were off somewhere else doing … God knows what.” I choke up. I really don’t want to think about what he was doing with that girl, but I can think of a few things.
“Oh … jealous now, are we?” he muses, the look on his face practically spelling out sin.
My eyes widen, and my lips part, but all I can do is stutter. “Wha—No, of course not.”
He laughs in a guttural way that puts all my senses on high alert. “You’re funny, you know that?”
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
He shakes his head again, the stubborn grin on his face so sexy yet so infuriating at the same time. “Your reaction is better than I thought it would be …”
I frown, completely confused. “I don’t get it. What is going on? Why did you want me to be here if she—”
“She was a distraction,” he says, his muscles tensing up as he leans in closer. “For you.”
My lips part, but I have no idea how to respond. With his free hand, he reaches for my face, his thumb grazing my cheek as he grabs a strand of my hair and tucks it behind my ear. “I wanted to see what you’d do.”
That … that was a prank? To get me to make a fool out of myself?
I thought he was finally opening up to me and trying to be a friend, and now he pulls this shit.
Fuck him. “No, fuck that, you don’t just get to prank me—”
“Prank you?” he interjects, his brows furrowing.
“You’re an—”
I can’t finish my sentence. Can’t even utter the words off my lips.
Because he’s covered my mouth with his.
With his hands, he cups my face and slams his lips on mine.
And I stop breathing entirely.
The kiss is earth-shattering, hot, and greedy as if he’s wanted to do this since the day he met me but never found the right opportunity. As though he wants to take me right here, right now.
His grip on my face is overpowering, and when his body pushes against mine, I lose it. My knees feel weak, and my heart beats faster and faster as I struggle to cope with what’s happening. His lips feel electrifying against mine. Like they could kill me if I didn’t stop.
But I can’t.
I can’t let Cole Travis do this to me.
So I force my brain to kick back into action and bite.
He leaps back, touching his lip. Blood seeps down, and his tongue darts out to lick it up. “You bit me,” he says in a way that almost makes it sound unbelievable.
“Asshole,” I finally finish my sentence, and I wipe my index finger along my lip.
“I told you not to call me that,” he growls, approaching me again.
But I swiftly push down the door handle and open the door before he tries to seduce me.
“That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?” he says with an arrogant tone.