“Braden”—I clear my throat—“I didn’t lose an earring.”
“Oh?” His blue eyes twinkle a bit. “Why are you here, then?”
“Because I…” I draw in a deep breath and hold it a few seconds.
“Spit it out, Skye.”
Because I want you. Because I think I’m falling for you. The words are on the tip of my tongue, and they’re not a lie. Just looking at him makes me yearn for him. But I thought he was in New York, so no way will he believe I came over here because I miss the smell of him.
I gather every bit of courage, pull the crumpled envelope out of my purse, and thrust it at him. “To return this.”
He wrinkles his forehead and takes the envelope.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I say, words tumbling out of my mouth faster than I can think about them. “I brought the stuff for Sasha, and then I went to the bathroom. I saw all the mail in the magazine rack, and I couldn’t help myself. When I saw the Ames Hotel envelope, I just… You won’t tell me about you and Addie, so I thought maybe…”
“Maybe you could figure it out from this?”
“I didn’t even look inside. I swear it. I felt terrible about it, and that’s why I came back. I was going to come back up here and replace it in the powder room so no one was the wiser. But now you’re here, and I…I don’t want to lie to you, Braden.”
He opens the envelope, withdraws the paper inside, and hands it to me. “It’s a bid for an event my foundation hosted last year.”
I glance over the words. The letter is dated more than a year ago. A quick look at the postmark would have given me this clue.
I can’t believe it. Really can’t believe it.
“You see,” he says. “Nothing about Addison and me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do you really think I’d leave anything important sitting in my powder room?” he asks incredulously.
“No. I…” I sigh. He makes a valid point. “I wasn’t thinking at all.”
I brace myself. He’s going to be angry. He might yell. He might call off our relationship—or whatever it is—forever, and if he does, I can’t blame him.
“I’m sorry. I understand if you want to…”
He cocks his head. “If I want to what?”
“Not see me anymore.”
He laughs. He laughs! So seldom does he laugh, and he picks this moment?
I hold back a huff. “What’s so funny?”
He pulls me against him, his lips pressing against my ear. “Nothing is funny about this.”
“Then why did you—”
“You want to know why I’m home early? Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted you in my bed. I almost sent you a plane ticket, but I knew you wouldn’t take off work with no notice. So I came home. I came home because I couldn’t wait five fucking days to see you again.”
I swallow as flutters rack my stomach and limbs, and my nipples harden against my bra. My pussy throbs between my legs. I squeeze my thighs together to try to ease the ache. “So…you’re not angry with me?”
His blue eyes burn through me. “I didn’t say that.”
I swallow again. “Then you are angry?”
“Of course I’m angry. Who wouldn’t be?”
I have no answer for his question, so I stay silent.
“The question is, what do I do about it?”
Again, I have no response.
“I could end things with you, but I didn’t fly two hundred miles today to punish myself.”
It would punish me as well, but I don’t vocalize the thought.
“I could take you over my knee and give you a good spanking.”
My body tingles. Do I want a spanking from Braden? No, I don’t. Except that I kind of do.
“It’s what you deserve,” he continues. He advances toward me, like a wolf stalking his prey.
I walk backward, away from him, until my back hits the wall beside the elevator door. He closes in on me, his gaze smoldering.
“Your lips are parted in that sexy way,” he rasps. “I want to kiss you so hard that your knees give out.”
I inhale a slight gasp.
“That wouldn’t punish you, though.”
I stay silent and close my eyes.
“So no kisses tonight. I’m going to spank your creamy ass, and then I’m going to take what I came all this way for. And you’re going to let me.”
Am I?
He’ll let me go if I tell him to. I know that. He won’t do anything without my permission. But he won’t ask. I see it in his gaze. If I want this to stop, I have to be the one to stop it.
“Braden…” I whisper.
“Yes?” His eyes laser into mine.
I squeeze my thighs together more tightly, but still my pussy aches with need. I’m wet. So wet already, without so much as a kiss. I won’t get a kiss tonight. He’s made that clear.