I can tell she’s not unaffected by the kiss. The kiss was like an explosion. It was like messing with incombustible materials and having them suddenly blow your ass to smithereens for no good reason other than that you underestimated the force of their powers. If Stella was just trying to mess with me, it’s blown up on her big time.
Those forces already blew up in my face a long time ago.
“Nine,” she chokes out. “Tomorrow. Or I go to my brother, and we work our own vengeance against you for going against your word and making me suffer through the date.” She stares me down, most of her fierce fire flooding back. “And I’ll tell Sam you kissed me.”
“That most certainly never happened. It was you who kissed me.”
She lifts one pretty shoulder in a shrug. “Yes, well, you kissed me back. Anyway, I don’t think Sam will care how it went down. He’ll just start sharpening pikes to roast you on the second he hears about it.”
“I asked him if I could take you out, remember?”
A bright fire flickers to life in Stella’s eyes. She’s digging in for a fight, and I can see how pleased she is about it. At least when she’s fighting with me, she doesn’t have to think about how she initiated the kiss, then responded to it. I’m quite sure those whimpers torn from her throat weren’t faked.
“Yes, to dinner. Which I have zero doubts he thought would never happen because he didn’t know it was actually a bribe to get me to sell out. He doesn’t know I’m selling the bakery. No one knows yet. Anyway, if he finds out that’s what your scheme is, and you are using it to take advantage of his sister, I know he’ll have something to say, and you won’t like it.”
My stomach flips, flops, drops, and smacks the ground. Stella isn’t cruel, and I can see how her words, thrust out too forcefully without thinking, have suddenly lost all their momentum. Her face pales, and she looks like she wishes she could snatch them back.
“Whatever,” she mutters, pivoting and marching toward the door. “I won’t tell him because I know how much it would hurt him.”
She gets out her keys and tries to stick one in the lock, but her hand is shaking so badly that the keys rattle and jangle, and the door won’t open. I know a good nut kicking is almost certainly now imminent, but I walk up behind her anyway. Stella gasps when I lightly set my hand on her shoulder. She becomes stiffer than a tree, which is a little bit comical because, unfortunately, so do I, down below. Um…anyway.
I run my hand over her wrist, which produces another thready inhale. Then, I slowly still her hand, twisting my fingers over hers until the key slides into the lock. I twist to the right until I feel the deadbolt spring free.
“Thank you,” I whisper against the shell of Stella’s ear. “But you started it, and no matter how you meant it to go, you liked it too.”
“Ugh.” She snatches her keys, shrugs me off, and rips the door open. She turns, blazing that indignant fire I’ve come to cherish. It’s quite erotic, but I would never tell her that. Okay, maybe one day I will. Hopefully. “This is now the part where I threaten to kick you in the nuts unless you take your smug ass out of here and promise to meet me at nine tomorrow with my money.”
I wink at her, but I do back up a step, just in case. Stella often makes good on her threats as she doesn’t hand them out lightly. They have to be really well deserved. “I’ll be there. And for the record, getting kicked in the nuts by you would be a true honor.”
Of course, she doesn’t give me the pleasure.
CHAPTER 12
Stella
“You…you scamming blackguard! You thieving pig! You buttface wizard!” I storm into Hal’s office at just past ten. I don’t care who hears my thunder. This whole office can learn what a cheat the owner really is.
Hal rises from behind a wooden desk large enough to turn into a pirate ship and float Hal down the bloody sea. I have pirates on the brain this morning. Maybe because Hal has long hair, he still hasn’t shaved, and his dark stubble is growing in fast, and because he usually dresses all in black like a pirate probably would. He most certainly doesn’t smell like a pirate, though. The scent of expensive cologne and some pleasant air freshener hits me as soon as I stalk into the office.
I slam the door shut behind me, twisting the lock in place. If Hal wants to call for help, he can darn well do that. No one is getting in here to save him until I’ve had my say.