I cleared my throat and carried his plate into the dining room. Instead of following me, he stayed behind. I set down his silverware and hoped he would join me, but he never did. I breathed a little harder, afraid he’d noticed the phone hidden behind the crock. I turned around and walked back into the kitchen, seeing him at the counter still, over six feet of carved muscle and tanned skin.
His eyes followed my movements.
What was going on? “I just put your breakfast down.”
He sipped his coffee again.
Now I really was terrified. Did he know what I was doing?
He held his mug at his waist, licking his lips as he looked at me.
I tossed the garbage, doing my best to ignore him. If I acted innocent, then he would have no reason to be suspicious of me.
He finally headed toward the dining room. “I want you to join me.” Then he walked out, his footsteps growing quiet as he rounded the corner.
When he was gone, I finally released the air I was storing in my lungs. When he was intense like that, hovering and staring, I didn’t have a clue what he was thinking. All I could do was wait and hope my paranoia was the only threat in the room.
I put food on my plate then joined him in the dining room.
Instead of looking at his phone like he usually did, all of his attention was focused on me. He sat at the head of the table, his elbows resting on the tablecloth. He stabbed his eggs before placing them in his mouth, but he didn’t watch his movements because he was looking at me so intently.
“Yes?” I kept my eyes downcast, refusing to meet his gaze and solidify the connection between us.
“I didn’t say a word.”
“But you’re staring at me.”
“I have to look at something, right?” He placed another piece of food into his mouth. He chewed it with his strong jaw, the muscles in his face working together as he moved. Even the cords in his neck shifted at the movements. He made the most rudimentary movements undeniably sexy.
“There’s a window right there.” I nodded to the large window that overlooked the front of his house. “And a beautiful landscape to boot.”
“True.” He glanced outside at the lawn before he looked at me again. “But I prefer this beautiful landscape.” He returned to eating, watching me with his searing gaze that could melt panties right off a pair of hot legs.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, but I brushed off his comment. “What a line.”
“I don’t have lines. I say what I want. Sometimes it gets me laid. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
“Are you trying to get laid?” I countered.
He set his fork down and sent me a harder expression than he had before. “I’ve been trying to get between your legs from the second I bought you, the instant I saw your naked body on that stage. Your tits are unbelievable. Your face becomes even more beautiful when you’re pissed at me. I wonder how beautiful it looks when you’re coming around my fat dick.”
My nipples hardened under my shirt, and I did my best to remain indifferent to his words. My fork stabbed the eggs on my plate, and I kept my gaze averted, trying to play the part. But my breathing quickened noticeably. My thighs tightened together under the table, but thankfully, he couldn’t see that. This beautiful man made me feel the kind of desire I hadn’t felt in years, but I refused to act on it.
“Mia.”
I stared at my plate as I chewed.
“Mia.” He repeated my name, this time with a deeper tone. Whenever he said my name, it sounded innately sexy on my ears. “Look at me, or I’ll make you look at me.”
I finally lifted my gaze, pretending not to care about anything he said.
“Let me have you.”
I held his gaze, doing my best to look angry rather than aroused. When I couldn’t hold his stare any longer, I turned back to my food. “I don’t sleep with men who buy women like livestock…at least, not voluntarily.”
“Then why do you want to fuck me?”
“Who said I did?”
“Not your mouth. But your eyes certainly say you do.”
I didn’t care if he was right. I didn’t care if he was sexy and confident. This man was standing in the way of my freedom, and I wouldn’t let him become an obstacle. If I did sleep with him, he would only hold on to me tighter. It would make it harder to escape. It would make it harder for me to want to escape. Living with him had been a vacation compared to the hell I was used to. It would be easy to get comfortable and never leave. “You’re confusing arousal with hatred.”