“Cole?”
At the sound of Celeste’s voice, I wrap the towel around my hips and turn to face her in the pool. Lilly’s still on her lap. “Yeah?”
She sighs heavily, her eyes dropping to my hard cock, letting me know she knows what I’m thinking. “Keep an eye on her.”
“I can’t—”
“Cole,” she interrupts my refusal. “You owe me.”
Running a hand through my wet hair, I growl. “Pick something else.”
She gives me a kind smile, but we both know it’s fake. “I’m picking her. And that’s not gonna change.”
Fuck!
I turn around and walk into the house, water still dripping from my hair and board shorts. I take the stairs two at a time, knowing where her room is. I watched her stand at her window after Deke and I finished with Jeff.
I don’t knock. I barge right into her room, and she squeals, jumping back from her dresser, a shirt in her hands but not on. She holds it up to cover her naked chest. And I wonder if her nipples are still hard. “What the hell, Cole …?”
“Get dressed, we’re leaving in ten.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snaps.
I smile. I gotta say, I do love how challenging she is. The fight. The constant back and forth. She actually thinks she has a chance to stand up against me. Austin Lowes doesn’t have a choice. Her mother doesn’t want her, her father is just itching to send her back, and her stepmother just threw her to the sharks. I’m all she has, which sucks for her because I destroy everything I touch. And as much as I don’t want her around, I look forward to ripping her to shreds.
I shut the door, and she swallows nervously as her eyes go to it, then shoot back to mine. I advance on her with slow and confident strides as if I’m about to attack my prey. My hard cock reminds me that I could throw her on her bed and take her right now, and no one would stop me. But even I have limits.
“What are you doing in here?” Her voice shakes with fear.
I reach up and cup her soft face. She still has on the makeup from church this morning. Her dark green eyes lined with black. Her lashes long and thick, and her plump lips stained with a light pink. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t pull away from me. I lean down, my lips inches from hers. “Do I need to remind you again?” Her chest rising and falling fast with each breath. My free hand itches to yank the shirt she’s using to shield her chest from me. To get a better look at her tits without the wet fabric she wore outside. To touch them. To suck on them. “That you don’t have a choice.”
She lifts her chin, and her green eyes simmer with rage. I like it. “You’re not my boss, Cole. You can’t tell me what to do.”
I let my hand on her face trail down over her delicate neck, where her pulse races, to her bare shoulder. Her body shudders. My fingers continue downward over her bare arm and bent elbow, and then I stop on the bandage covering her stitches. My eyes meet hers. “We both know that I can.” I take a step back before I go too far. “Now get dressed. We have somewhere to be.”
Her narrowed eyes stay on mine. Almost as if she’s challenging me. Her chin lifts, and nostrils flare. “Cole—”
“This is not up for discussion,” I snap, interrupting her. “I will drag you to my car by your hair, if need be.”
She lets out a growl, and I take that as her acceptance.
_________________________________
She sits next to me in my car as I drive down the curvy road, heading farther away from town.
I take the steep hills at a fast pace, speeding more than I normally would to keep her on her toes. I can taste her fear—smell it—and it’s intoxicating.
She places her hands out in front of her on the dash, and I chuckle. Her head snaps to the side to look at me. “You’re trying to scare me on purpose.”
“We both know you’re already scared of me.” She doesn’t comment.
I make my way down the last hill, and the road curves to the right. I take it, the rear end fishtailing, and I hear the intake of her breath.
“Where are we?” she asks, looking out her window.
“Does it matter?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes but doesn’t respond.
I come to a stop at a stoplight and make a left turn and remove my seat belt.
“What are you doing?” she asks, looking over at me.
I throw her a smile, and her eyes narrow on me. She hates when I ignore her questions. Too bad. She’ll find out soon enough.