Zach cursed beneath his breath as his beam of light bounced off the narrow walls. “I don’t want you to be, Sophie. Can’t you see that? I don’t want you here.”
Hurt spread through her and she jerked her arm away from his grasp. Damn stubborn man. Who did he think he was, ordering her around?
She refused to let him see the extent of the damage his words had just caused. She’d wanted to pull the emotions out of him. Be careful what you wish for.
“I’m already here,” she fired back, her tone harsh from the tears that clogged her throat. “If you want away from me so bad, then why don’t you get the hell out? Go back to whatever it is you were doing out there. I want to look.”
Zach’s flashlight clattered to the floor as he took hold of her shoulders and all but forced her up against the wall. Damp concrete cooled her back while Zach’s heated body pressed against her, molding perfectly and sending arousal shooting through her body. The narrow area didn’t leave much room to wiggle.
“Don’t you get it?” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m trying to stay away from you and you’re not helping.”
She wished she could see his eyes, wished she could see his face, but with her phone at her side and his light on the floor angling toward the door, all she could do was make out his shape, hear his low, throaty voice, and feel that hard, thick body on hers.
Sophie closed her eyes for a moment, terrified of her feelings for this man who obviously loathed her.
“I know you see me and still feel guilty about the accident,” she said softly. “I don’t want to always be that reminder—”
His lips crushed hers and for a brief second, Sophie was stunned. She snapped back into reality and sank into his kiss as he kept a tight grip on her shoulders, holding her firmly against the wall. His body trapped her, his kiss assaulted her, and that bulge in his pants all but mocked her.
This was the moment she’d waited for, the moment she’d dreamed about for years, and Zach Monroe blew every single expectation out the window with his talented lips and hard, taut body.
His tongue swept into her mouth and Sophie responded with a groan as she arched against him.
She wanted more, wanted to feel him, wanted to wrap her arms around him. She wanted to be rid of these clothes.
Never before had she wanted a man with such intensity.
Zach tore his mouth from hers with a string of curses.
“Not the way I’d hoped you’d feel about kissing me,” she muttered, her lips still tingling, her body still revved up and aching for more.
His hands fell from her shoulders. “I won’t apologize.”
“Well, that’s a move in the right direction.”
His boots shuffled against the concrete as he shifted back slightly. “This means nothing.”
“Felt like something to me,” she countered.
“Obvious reasons this was a bad idea aside, you’re dating someone. Or did you forget?”
The sarcastic, harsh question didn’t deter her from defending herself and firing right back. “You kissed me. You put your hands on me.”
Not that she hadn’t enjoyed every delicious second of it.
He started to turn, but she reached for his arm. This wasn’t over. She wanted, deserved answers. And she wanted more of what just happened.
Tensing beneath her touch, Zach froze. “What, Sophie?”
“Why did you kiss me?”
Now he did turn to face her, and with the light in his hand she could make out the torn expression on his face. An expression that matched the fear and vulnerability she’d seen when she’d fallen in Chelsea’s apartment.
“Why?” he repeated. “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you since I was sixteen. Because I couldn’t keep wondering what you tasted like. I had to know.” He blew out a sigh and lowered his voice. “Because I will never have anything more with you, and I selfishly needed that moment. Looks like I’m human after all.”
She started to reach for him, but his hand shot up, gripped her wrist. “Don’t.”
“You tell me all of that and then expect me not to react?”