Page 51 of Playing with Forever
Then quietly, as if it cost him something to admit, he said, “You make me forget how to hold back.”
My breath felt as though it left my lungs at that vulnerable confession. My fingers curled into his shirt without thinking, anchoring myself there against him. “Then don’t,” I whispered.
When he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me—slow, deep, and full of everything we weren’t saying—I knew I was already in way over my head. And I didn’t care, even knowing this thing between us would most likely end in heartbreak.
Mine.
CHAPTER19
Chase
Iwasn’t lying when I said that Brandon’s posturing didn’t bother me in the least. It was much more fun to just not react to his annoying behavior and let him think that he’d actually impressed me. Men like him weren’t worth the time or energy.
There was, however, something that did concern me.
I was probably being overly sensitive, but we still hadn’t turned up anything incriminating on Andrea’s ex-boyfriend, Heath. But Brandon, well, there was something about him and his interaction with Andrea that pinged my protective radar and unsettled me. My gut instinct had always served me well, so while Andrea was talking to some work friends after dinner, I slipped away—supposedly to the bathroom—and gave Tate a call.
He picked up fairly quickly. “Do you know where I am?” Tate demanded, sounding piqued at the interruption.
“The club?” I guessed, not that I gave a fuck.
“Yes,” he grumbled. “I’m trying to relax and unwind and get laid. Go away.”
“Well, the fact that you said you’retryingmeans you’re not in the middle of fucking someone, so I need you to do me a favor and look up someone for me when you get into the office in the morning and dig up whatever you can on him,” I said, rubbing a hand along the back of my neck to ease the tension settling there. “It’s for Andrea.”
“Oh?” I could hear the sly grin in Tate’s voice. “Well, if it’s for Andrea…”
“Oh, fuck off,” I snapped, not in the mood to be provoked. “Just look the guy up. It’s someone she works with. I’m at an event with her and I don’t like the vibes he’s giving off.”
“Text me whatever you’ve got and I’ll go from there,” Tate said, taking things more seriously now.
As soon as we hung up I sent over Brandon’s name and the very little information I had on the guy. It wasn’t a lot. Mainly, just his place of employment, possibly where he’d attended college and the type of car he drove. Unfortunately, his last name, Smith, was pretty fucking common, but if anyone could find out any dirt on the guy, it would be Tate. Just knowing his name and that he worked with Andrea was all that Tate needed to start making the connections through social media and other digital footprints.
I returned to the party. Brandon was hovering near Andrea now that I was gone, not talking to her, but the way he was watching her, with a disapproving frown on his face, rubbed me the wrong way.
The guy made my spine itch. I just couldn’t tell if it was because he was insecure and arrogant, or if it was because he was an actual threat to Andrea. Clearly he wasn’t as nice of a guy as he’d led Andrea to believe, that was for sure, but was it because he was the kind of entitled jerk who was angry that a woman wouldn’t go out with him? Or was it something more?
Hopefully Tate’s inquest would be able to answer that question for me.
I walked over to Andrea where she was chatting with her friends. Fuck, she was gorgeous. She was hot, yes, but she was alsobeautiful, and this dress reminded me of just how stunning she was. The dark purple with her light skin and dark hair was striking, and she’d done some fun dramatic eye makeup that I couldn’t wait to see messed up with her tears of pain and pleasure.
“How you doing?” I asked, leaning in close, my lips brushing her ear.
Andrea flushed. She’d been flushing all night, eyes sparkling, as I flirted with her.
“I’m good,” Andrea whispered back to me.
“You ready to go?” Now that we’d made our appearance and stayed for dinner and the awards ceremony, I was anxious to leave this fancy event behind and have her all to myself.
Curiosity flickered in her eyes. “Go?”
“To the club,” I murmured.
Andrea flushed harder. I could feel everyone in the group staring at us and I didn’t give a damn. I’d made it clear tonight that everyone knew Andrea was mine and that I wanted her, and I was just enough of a possessive bastard to be a bit smug about it now.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I’m more than ready.”
She made her excuses gracefully, and I was sure that everyone knew we were leaving so I could fuck her, even if they didn’t know exactly where we were going or what the rest of the night would entail for us.
