“I often see you reading books, and I like it—”
“Actually, I’m just faking it.”
“I believe you’re not the type to spend endless hours taking selfies—”
“You won’t think that once you see what’s stored in my photo library.”
“And then there’s our chemistry—”
“We have one?”
“It’s off the fucking charts, but I love how you keep fighting it—”
“Oh no. Why do I have a sudden urge to be clingy—” Wait. What did I just say?
“I’m glad to hear that, koukla mou.” His hands claimed my waist as he spoke, and he had already hauled me close, my body plastered against his, by the time I realized what just happened.
“You tricked me!” And I was so glad – no, I mean, I was horrified. Horrified! Just plain horrified to feel how horribly hard…and horribly hot…and horribly seductive…
Green eyes glittered down at me, and my heart lurched at the sheer amount of heat in his gaze.
Oh God, I’m dead.
“I always get what I want, my Schuyler.”
The sensual purr in his voice had my body trembling, and it took everything to resist the urge to melt against the devastating hardness of his body. “I’m not yours—”
“But you are.”
“I’m not.”
His eyes gleamed, and a moment later he purred, “You are.”
Oh! I realized right away what game he was playing, and I was impressed and terrified at the same time. Gaaaah. This man was really, really good, and not just at flirting. He was good with women, period.
I lifted my chin, intending to tell him that no matter what he did, I would never be…
Oh!
It hit me from out of the blue, and hundreds of images flashed in my mind, all of them featuring the twenty-plus male characters that Sara and I had brought to life…
There was no denying that the billionaire knew his way around women…but what I had forgotten was that I also knew my way around alphas, and maybe…just maybe I knew enough to level the playing field even?
Ioniko stiffened. “I don’t think I like the look in your eyes.”
“I’m not surprised.”
His gaze narrowed. “Schuyler—”
“The reason why I don’t want to let myself believe you’re attracted to me is because I don’t want to fall in love with you,” I blurted out in a rush.
“I see.” His gaze became veiled, which unfortunately was no surprise either.
“I’m betting you wouldn’t want that either.”
After a moment, he said evenly, “You would be right.”
“Ouch, but expected, so that being said and with you knowing what you know now…if I ask you to forget you even know me, would you?”
“No.”
“I thought so, too, which is why…” I took a deep breath. “I’d like to try going out with you—”
I had just gotten past the turnstile when Ioniko’s baby sister greeted me, and while that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, the slyness in her tone definitely was, and I turned to her in a mixture of wariness and confusion. “Hi—” I stopped speaking when I saw the mischievous grin on her lips.
“Yup,” she said cheerfully. “My brother told me just enough for me to realize you’re the only woman in ages to have said no to him.”
The only woman in ages?
Did that mean there had been another woman…
But I was quickly distracted from my thoughts as I heard Kat call out to her assistant. “Can you take over?”