A ghost of a smile mixed with an uncertain disbelief plays on his lips before shaking it away and pushing it aside. “I—we can’t continue here with what I want to do, but this,” he says, motioning to me and the wall, “will tide me over.” He flashes a quick grin at me before grabbing my hand and climbing the last flight of stairs.

I follow him, knowing my heart and body are far from recovered from that little episode. Haddie’s words flash through my head, and I can’t help but disagree with her. When it comes to Colton, I don’t just have it bad. I’ve drowned, been consumed, and am utterly and undeniably his.

Colton pushes open the door at the top of the stairwell, and I’m surprised to find us in the interior of a very masculine and sparsely decorated office. Assumptions aside, I know it’s his because it’s so similar to his office in Malibu. I step in behind him when I hear a gasp.

“Oh, Colt, you scared me half to death!” the feminine voice exclaims, and instantly my back bristles at her familiarity with him. Does the woman have to be everywhere? Fuucckk!

“Can I help you with something, Tawn?” Colton asks, and I swear that I hear an edge to the curiosity in his question.

Tawny straightens up from where she is leaned over his desk and straightens the papers she is fumbling with. Of course she looks flawless in her cleavage defying shirt, skin-tight pants, and freshly made-up face. The woman is absolutely, fucking perfectly stunning. Her lips form a startled O shape as she looks at Colton before her eyes dart over to me and then back to him. The catty, territorial girl inside of me wants her to notice the flush on my cheeks and that just fucked smirk on my face so it’s reaffirmed that she’s nothing more than a blip on Colton’s radar.

“Sorry. You scared me.” She exhales. “I was just looking for the Penzoil contract. I wasn’t sure if you’d had a chance to sign it. That’s all.” She smiles too sweetly.

I’ve got a place she can shove that fake smile.

Colton looks at her for a moment as if he’s trying to decipher something, but shakes his head absently. “Tawny, you’ve met Rylee, right?”

Tawny’s eyes flit back and forth between us noting our joined hands before re-plastering the smile that has slightly fallen from her lips. “Something like that,” she says as she steps out from behind his desk and walks—no, saunters—toward us. There really is no other way to describe it. Her eyes remain steadfast on Colton’s. She is definitely one of those women who are acutely aware of every move of her body and its effect on the opposite sex.

If I disliked her before, I truly detest her now.

Colton gives me a warning look as he feels my hand tense at her approach. “So good to see you again,” I lie, and I wonder if he has any idea of the future WWE Smackdown he’s just initiated. I have to stifle the giggle I feel bubbling up at the image of Tawny and me flying off of the ropes of a wrestling ring with bad costumes and even worse moves as we fight over the trophy of Colton.

“Yes, how unexpected to see you here.” She smiles, and I’m observant enough to note Colton’s eyebrows raise in amusement at the obvious tension between the two of us.

He turns to me, his eyes reissuing the warning to be on my best behavior as if he knows my WWE thoughts. “As you know, Tawny here is the head of my marketing team and is actually the one who came up with the lap match sponsorship idea.”

Yes, please remind me again so I don’t reach across and slap her because it’s so damn tempting.

“Yes,” I exclaim indifferently, knowing I should thank her properly but not wanting to. I pause for a moment, but my manners finally prevail. “And Corporate Cares is appreciative of all of the hard work you’ve put behind this,” I say with sincerity.

“You’re welcome,” she says, her eyes never leaving Colton’s although she is addressing me. Does he not see her infatuation with him? It’s so obvious it’s ludicrous. “We’ve already landed some sponsors, but we have a few more irons left in the fire for some big name corporations. We’re wrapping that up right now and most likely will get that magic number to solidify the funding for the project.”

“Incredible,” I say, trying to express my enthusiasm while hiding my complete disdain for her as she oozes—yes oozes, for that’s what she does—her charm all over Colton.

I observe her watching Colton, and it irks me that I suddenly feel like an outsider. She turns slowly to me, a snarky smirk on her face, and I have to remind myself it was me that Colton was just doing inappropriate but hot as hell things to in the stairwell. Not her. And with that mental reminder, I’m more than ready to play this game.

“If you think you can contribute in any way…Rylee, right?” she asks apologetically as I just tilt my head to the side and bite my tongue at her catty barb because she damn well knows my name. “Please feel free to let me know.”

“Thank you—but I’m sure that any help I could provide…would be…” I look up in thought as I search for the perfect word “...inconsequential.” My eyes shift from her to Colton as I speak. A smile plays at the corners of my lips, and I arch an eyebrow in question. “Don’t you think, Ace?”

“Inconsequential,” Colton mouths, a smirk on his lips as he shakes his head at my word choice. He holds my stare and I can see that even with this stunning woman beside me he desires me.

Me.

The air between us fills with an electricity as our gazes hold. I can sense Tawny’s discomfort as she shuffles from foot to foot in the charged silence. “Thank you, Tawny,” Colton says dismissing her without breaking our connection, “Rylee and I have somewhere we need to be,” he concludes, standing and reaching out for my hand.

And hopefully that someplace he needs to be is in me.



“You know, Rylee, you sure are changing how I look at certain things in the world,” Colton comments as we pull into my driveway.