Spencer let out a little cry when she reached the last landing, and Etienne was already there. “H-how—”
“You know how.”
Her heart started racing as she watched Etienne push himself off from the wall he had been leaning against, and when he began walking towards her, it felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Why did he have to be so immensely elegant and sexy and – oh my God, why was she wasting time just standing here and thinking all these stupid thoughts?
Spencer immediately made a move to avoid him, but it was too late.
She was trapped once again, her body caged between his the steely wall of his body and the balustrade which his fingers were now gripping to lock her in.
“Let me go,” she gritted out.
“Never.”
“Why?” Hazel eyes flew up to him in stony challenge, but even that, Etienne saw, wasn’t enough to mask the pain he had unintentionally inflicted in her. “I’ve been working for you for years, and you always leave the moment a woman thinks she’s in love and gets a little too clingy—”
“Is that a promise you’ll start clinging?”
“It’s a promise that I won’t be an idiot,” she hissed, “just because I’m in love with you. I know what you’re doing here. The only reason you don’t want to let go is—”
“Because I’m in love with you, too.”
Chapter Ten
He had to be joking. The words played over and over in her mind even as Spencer found herself following Etienne to his car, where they were supposed to talk in private. He insisted on driving, too, and this only made things feel more surreal. And weird. It didn’t seem right that it was her boss behind the wheel while she sat next to him with nothing to do.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“A friend’s party—” And seeing the look of surprise on her face, he said silkily, “So that lovely dress of yours won’t go to waste.”
“But you said you wanted to talk—”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?”
While speaking, Etienne reached for her hand without warning, and before she could even react, he was already bending his head to place a small kiss on her knuckles.
Oh!
The sensation of his lips against her skin immediately had Spencer catching her breath…and holding it as his smoldering gaze met hers. “Is it really that hard to believe, mi vavli?”
Her mind said yes, her heart begged to differ, but it was her body that ended up crying and aching when Etienne slowly released her hand, and her breath whooshed out of her.
“You…I…” Spencer was finding it increasingly difficult to think. “Never…not one…clue…”
She felt his gaze narrow at her, and when she turned to him, he said calmly, “It was the same for me, don’t you think? You’ve been in love with me for a long time—”
Even though Spencer knew it was already pointless to feel bothered, she still couldn’t help flinching at hearing the truth from Etienne of all people.
“But you never gave a clue either, did you?” Now that he had a role to play, the words came easily, and his mind was already leap years ahead in strategizing and putting plans into place to ensure the words he had uttered earlier would come off as the truth…even if it wasn’t.
“I just can’t…” Spencer shook her head. “You’re not the type to fall in love—”
“And you are?”
She had to bite back a smile at the drollness in his tone. It almost felt like there was an insult hidden somewhere behind his words. But even so—
“Just give us a chance.”
Oh no. She had never heard him hear use such a coaxing tone before. Never. The moment any of his dates had started making demands, he hadn’t wasted a single second in getting rid of them. It had always been his way of making things clear about where women stood in his life, which was somewhere below obligatory appearances in gold tournaments (his hatred of which she now understood) and slightly more important and enjoyable than having to personally shop for his clothes (men were just men, apparently, with or without fangs).
“Spencer…”
“You know…” Spencer was unable to meet his gaze as she heard herself say, “I wasn’t lying about what I said.”
The unease in her voice made Etienne’s grip on the steering wheel tighten. He knew right away what this was all about, and he knew just as well it was a subject he needed to tread carefully on.
“I did sell my virginity.”
“I see.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?”
“Why did you do it?” Etienne forced himself to ask. “Was it for money?”
Spencer squeezed her eyes shut, and in a barely audible voice that he couldn’t have heard if he had been human, she whispered, “It was because of you.” And the rest of the words tumbled out in a stilted fashion. “I wanted to prove to myself that I can get past my feelings for you, so I…”