into mine. “Which is why you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be anywhere near me until I get this thing over with.”
“Or maybe it’s exactly why I SHOULD be here. And maybe you should stop being so fucking stubborn and let people help you. You don’t have to do everything alone.”
“How did you even find—”
“Arianna needs you to sign these for the show.” I held up the stack of contracts, pages carefully marked with bright yellow tags, and walked toward him.
“Arianna? You’re working for Sabine again?” He nodded slowly. “Of course you are. I should have known.” He took the papers from me, then shifted a few bottles of paint to make room for them, his jaw tensing slightly as his fingers wrapped around a black pen. “Un- fucking -believable, Ree.”
My mind twitched at his words, my ire rising until my eyes followed the flow of his fingers as he signed the papers. My heart broke at the sight of the scars running along the entire length of his right hand and up his wrist.
I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to reach out and slide my fingers across his paint-speckled skin. Every one of my senses was starved for him no matter how much he was pissing me off at the moment. I breathed in his nearness—he still smelled like paint, so familiar yet so distant at the same time.
He finished signing the last page, paused, then pinned me with his dark gaze, his expression calculating.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it? The show. You set this up, not Rex.” His jaw clenched. As much as I wanted to, I wouldn’t lie to him. I nodded once, and he said, “Then I’m out.”
“What?! Why? Because it would mean that I’d helped you in some way?” I poked him in the chest hard. “God. It’s fine for you to help people, but the moment you need help, you’ve got to do everything on your own. Sometimes you can be such a man, you know that, Dare?”
“I’m trying to keep you SAFE, Ree.”
“No, you’re trying to keep me OUT.” Fuming, I took a step forward and got right in his face. “We’re a fucking team. And I will do whatever I can to help you, so just fucking deal with it!”
There was so much tension in the air, I felt as if the entire room was about to combust. Anger and lust fueled a fire that burned between us, scorching our entire world. Dare and I had shared undeniable chemistry since day one, but there was also something even more powerful pulsing between us. Something stronger, deeper, and as terrifying as it was wonderful. Love had the power to both create and destroy. Sometimes in the same moment.
Sometimes in a single kiss.
I couldn’t tell which one of us made the first move, but Dare’s mouth was suddenly on mine, his tongue parting my lips as he fastened his grip on my hair and pinned me against the edge of the workbench.
His kiss was a dizzying answer to an ache that had resided in both my heart and body for weeks now. Heat flushed my skin and electricity hummed through my veins as my world began to spin out of control. I lost myself in him, moaning his name, running my hands over his back, clutching his t-shirt, fervently tugging his hair.
Dare matched my need with his own, piercing me with his tongue and biting my lips as he dug his hips into me—hard, rough, and wanting. His hands gripped my sides, tightening around my waist in an iron grip. Without breaking our kiss, he lifted me up so that I was sitting on the desk, then slid his hands down my body. I gasped when his palms skated over my thighs to my knees, spreading my legs open so he could wedge himself between them.
“I fucking warned you,” he whispered against my lips, his voice so hoarse and severe I felt his words vibrate through me. “Three years ago, I warned you to stay away.”
“And three years ago I refused to heed that warning.” I pressed my mouth to his, forcing him to experience my words the same way I’d felt his. “Now, I’m even more serious when I say that I’m not going
“Or maybe it’s exactly why I SHOULD be here. And maybe you should stop being so fucking stubborn and let people help you. You don’t have to do everything alone.”
“How did you even find—”
“Arianna needs you to sign these for the show.” I held up the stack of contracts, pages carefully marked with bright yellow tags, and walked toward him.
“Arianna? You’re working for Sabine again?” He nodded slowly. “Of course you are. I should have known.” He took the papers from me, then shifted a few bottles of paint to make room for them, his jaw tensing slightly as his fingers wrapped around a black pen. “Un- fucking -believable, Ree.”
My mind twitched at his words, my ire rising until my eyes followed the flow of his fingers as he signed the papers. My heart broke at the sight of the scars running along the entire length of his right hand and up his wrist.
I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to reach out and slide my fingers across his paint-speckled skin. Every one of my senses was starved for him no matter how much he was pissing me off at the moment. I breathed in his nearness—he still smelled like paint, so familiar yet so distant at the same time.
He finished signing the last page, paused, then pinned me with his dark gaze, his expression calculating.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it? The show. You set this up, not Rex.” His jaw clenched. As much as I wanted to, I wouldn’t lie to him. I nodded once, and he said, “Then I’m out.”
“What?! Why? Because it would mean that I’d helped you in some way?” I poked him in the chest hard. “God. It’s fine for you to help people, but the moment you need help, you’ve got to do everything on your own. Sometimes you can be such a man, you know that, Dare?”
“I’m trying to keep you SAFE, Ree.”
“No, you’re trying to keep me OUT.” Fuming, I took a step forward and got right in his face. “We’re a fucking team. And I will do whatever I can to help you, so just fucking deal with it!”
There was so much tension in the air, I felt as if the entire room was about to combust. Anger and lust fueled a fire that burned between us, scorching our entire world. Dare and I had shared undeniable chemistry since day one, but there was also something even more powerful pulsing between us. Something stronger, deeper, and as terrifying as it was wonderful. Love had the power to both create and destroy. Sometimes in the same moment.
Sometimes in a single kiss.
I couldn’t tell which one of us made the first move, but Dare’s mouth was suddenly on mine, his tongue parting my lips as he fastened his grip on my hair and pinned me against the edge of the workbench.
His kiss was a dizzying answer to an ache that had resided in both my heart and body for weeks now. Heat flushed my skin and electricity hummed through my veins as my world began to spin out of control. I lost myself in him, moaning his name, running my hands over his back, clutching his t-shirt, fervently tugging his hair.
Dare matched my need with his own, piercing me with his tongue and biting my lips as he dug his hips into me—hard, rough, and wanting. His hands gripped my sides, tightening around my waist in an iron grip. Without breaking our kiss, he lifted me up so that I was sitting on the desk, then slid his hands down my body. I gasped when his palms skated over my thighs to my knees, spreading my legs open so he could wedge himself between them.
“I fucking warned you,” he whispered against my lips, his voice so hoarse and severe I felt his words vibrate through me. “Three years ago, I warned you to stay away.”
“And three years ago I refused to heed that warning.” I pressed my mouth to his, forcing him to experience my words the same way I’d felt his. “Now, I’m even more serious when I say that I’m not going
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