“And if I say no?”
I blew out a breath. “Then we can try other options, like suing her for defamation, but that’s just going to prolong this, and frankly, you won’t win. The best-case scenario is that she’ll settle for a sum of money.”
“I see.” He stepped back, took another swig from his bottle. I was grateful for the reprieve. Those sexy vibes were a little too much.
“Will you think about it?”
He nodded. I felt victorious. For all his talk about not giving in, I sure was making progress. This was frankly the least painful approach for him, even though he probably couldn’t see it.
Would it be easy to sell the idea of a prewritten article to publications? Hell, no. But I’d make it happen. I was so busy thinking about how to approach one of my favorite lifestyle magazines that I wasn’t paying any attention to my feet and stepped into a hole. Reid tried to catch me but wasn’t fast enough, so I landed on my ass. My ankle stung, but my wrist took the brunt of the impact.
“Oww.”
Reid crouched right next to me. My wrist was throbbing. I flexed it, wincing.
“Is it broken?” Reid asked.
”No.”
“We have a nurse at the hotel. She’ll take a look at this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I just tripped.”
Reid glared before gripping my arm, inspecting my wrist closely.
“Does it hurt? Be honest.”
His tone was so commanding that it didn’t cross my mind to lie.
“A little,” I admitted but looked away quickly before I also acknowledged just how good it felt to have his hands on me.
“You scratched your right ankle too. That needs to be cleaned up.”
I glanced down. That explained the stinging.
“Right. Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to cancel your next appointment and go back to the hotel with me.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Hailey.”
“You can Hailey me all you want. I’m not canceling anything.”
“Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder and just carry you to the hotel.”
“What are you going to do? Hold me captive in your bedroom? Chain me to your bed?”
He leaned into me until his mouth was almost touching mine.
“Don’t tempt me.”
He’d spoken every word deliberately, in a low, determined voice. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed by him, by all the sensations spurred by his fingers pressing on my arm, his hot breath feathering above my upper lip.
I’d never met a man who could rattle me so effortlessly. He dropped his gaze downward. Then he leaned in, brushing his mouth over mine.
Every inch of my body sizzled in anticipation. When his hand slid to the back of my head, I parted my lips, letting him in.
The way he claimed my mouth.... Oh, fuck. This kiss was just surreal.