Free Last Kiss by Laurelin Paige Page A

insinuation that Reeve might behave in the same manner was thinly veiled.
    Wisely, he decided that it was time to end the conversation. “Looks like I have work to do. I’ll get on it.” Without waiting a beat longer, he made his exit.
    I turned to follow, but Reeve called after me. “Emily.” He waited until I twisted my head in his direction. “Shut the doors.”
    My hands were shaking as I did what he asked, so I kept them behind me when I pivoted my body to face him.
    He studied me. “Come here.”
    I took a step forward, but then stopped, paralyzed by both my attraction to him and the delighted fear of what he might say or do next. Wringing my hands together at the base of my back, I ventured, “Are you… mad?”
    “Well.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. “I’m in a quandary about that, aren’t I? Your affair with Chris happened before you met me, so I suppose I have no grounds to be angry. Though, I am extremely unhappy – again – that you chose to meet with him, and now that I know he had openly declared his interest in bedding you, I have to question your judgment.”
    He had a point. The problem was he didn’t understand what my motivation had been, and there wasn’t any good reason to keep that to myself anymore. “I met with him to see if I could get any leads on Amber. That’s the only reason why.”
    His eyes widened in understanding. He nodded an acceptance. “And you’ve already promised to not be alone with him again, so I guess I have to swallow my jealousy and let it go, don’t I? If I want you to know that I believe you.”
    It was hard not to get tripped up on his declaration of jealousy. It was something I knew about him, and it was annoying and inconvenient. Even so, it got my thighs humming in all the right places.
    But more important were the words he’d said after. I’d given him the opportunity to prove himself, and here he was teetering on the brink of doing just that. I pushed him. “
Do
you believe me?”
    “It’s impossible to think that smarmy piece of shit could satisfy your needs. So yes, I believe you rejected his advances.”
    I rolled my eyes. “And
that’s
why you believe me? Because you know you’re a better lover than he is?” God, he was stubborn. The way he made me work for every drop of affirmation…
    Well, I liked it. It made what he
did
give all the more genuine. All the more meaningful. So when he said, “I believe you because you say it’s the truth,” warmth scurried along my body, and I beamed.
    “Thank you.” I lowered my head to hide the flush crawling down my neck.
    “While we’re on the topic,” his words drew my eyes up, “is there anything else you’re keeping from me that I should know about?”
    I paused, not because I was hesitant to answer, but because I was surprised by what my answer was. “No. I can honestly say I think you know everything now.”
    “Good.” His smile was slight, but it lit up the dark that had rested over his face. “Now, come here.”
    This time I came to him. Then, when he put his foot to the floor and patted his thigh, I climbed into his lap, straddling him with my knees at his sides.
    I felt giddy for no reason other than I was in his arms. It was strange how my feelings for him had changed with Amber’s return, simply because her arrival disproved many of the theories that had hung in my mind. He hadn’t killed her. He hadn’t hurt her in any way other than the ways he’d confessed – if he had, she wouldn’t have returned. Before, he’d been dark and powerful. The extent of his mastery had been unknown. Now, the curtain had been pulled back and behind it I’d found just a man.
    There was still a layer of fear where he was concerned, though, mostly because he was so unpredictable. He could be mean, which was, in some ways, what made him so captivating.
    And then he could be sweet, which was the most terrifying part about him of all. Because it made me