Leroy shrugged. “I am the one financing your film so you don’t get to talk to me like that.”
Wusses. He was surrounded by them tonight.
“I haven’t seen any of your money so you’re not in any position to demand a damn thing from me,” Ryan said, keeping his voice ice cold. Cold anger, he realized a long time ago, was so much more effective than ranting and raving. “And even if we do still do business together, it’ll always be my movie. You will never call the shots. Think about that and come back to me if you think those are terms you can live with.”
Banks flushed under Ryan’s hard stare and Ryan thought that it was a perfect time to throw in one last threat. “And this thing you have for my girlfriend stops right here. Leave her the hell alone.”
“Ryan...” Jaci tried to speak as he pulled her toward a taxi sitting behind Leroy’s limo and yanked the door open. He bundled her inside and when she was seated, he gripped the sides of the door and glared at her. This was all her and her big mouth’s fault! What the hell had she been thinking by telling Leroy that they were talking about marriage? And how could he still be so intensely angry with her but still want to rip her clothes off? How could he want to strangle and kiss her at the same time?
He was seriously messed up. Had been since this crazy woman dropped back into his life.
“Not one damn word,” he ordered before slamming the door closed and walking around the back of the cab. He slid inside and Jaci opened her mouth again.
“Ryan, I need you to understand why—”
God, she seriously wasn’t listening. “What part of ‘not one damn word’ didn’t you understand?” he growled after he tossed the address to her place to the driver up front.
“I understand that you are angry—”
“Shut. Up.” Ryan felt as if a million spiders were dancing under his skin and that his temper was bubbling, looking for a way to escape. He’d spent his teenage years with a volatile father who didn’t give a damn about him, and when he did pay him some attention, it was always negative. He’d learned to ignore the disparaging comments, to show no reaction and definitely no emotion. His father had fed off drama, had enjoyed baiting him, so he’d learned not to lose control, but tonight he was damn close. Engaged? Him? The man who, thanks to his brother and Kelly, rarely dated beyond six weeks? Who would believe it? And he was engaged to Jaci, who wasn’t exactly his type...mostly because she wasn’t like the biddable, eager-to-please women he normally dated. God, he hadn’t even slept with Jaci yet and he was halfway to being hitched? On what planet in what freaking galaxy was that fair?
“I need to explain. Leroy—”
Okay, obviously she had no intention of keeping quiet, and he had two options left to him. To strip sixteen layers of skin off her or to shut her up in the only way he knew how. Deciding to opt for the second choice, he twisted, leaned over and slapped his mouth on hers. He dimly heard her yelp of surprise, and taking advantage of her open mouth, he slid his tongue inside...
His world flipped over again as he licked into her mouth, his tongue sliding over hers. She tasted of mint and champagne and heated surprise. The scent of her perfume, something light but fresh, enveloped him and his hands tightened on her hips, his fingers digging into the fabric of the dress he’d helped her choose, the dress he so desperately wanted to whip off her to discover what lay underneath. The backs of his fingers skimmed the side of her torso, bumped up and over her ribs, across the swelling of her breasts. He wanted to cup her, to feel her nipple pucker into his hand, but he was damned if he’d give the taxi driver a free show. Knowing her, discovering her, could wait until later. He needed to delay gratification, even if his erection felt as if it was being strangled by his pants. He could do it but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
He wanted her. He wanted all of her...
Jaci yanked him back to the present by whipping her mouth off his and pushing herself into the corner of the cab, as far away from him as possible. “What are you doing?”
That was obvious, wasn’t it? “Kissing you.”
Dark eyes flashed her annoyance. “You tell me to shut up and then you kiss me? Are you crazy?”
That was highly possible.
“You wouldn’t shut up,” Ryan pointed out, his temper reigniting as he remembered her stupid declaration.
“You wouldn’t let me explain,” Jaci retorted.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what you come up with.” Ryan retreated to his corner of the cab, knowing that a muscle was jumping in his cheek. “Why would you make up such a crazy story? Are you that desperate to be engaged, to show the world that someone wants to marry you, that you would just go off half-cocked? I don’t want to be engaged. God, I’ve been battling to wrap my head around having a fake girlfriend, and now I have a fake fiancée? And that it’s you? Jesus!”