“It sucked shit.”
She glanced at the door again, gauging her possible escape. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled distractedly under her breath.
“Are you really?”
Having no idea how to respond to that, she lifted her shoulders, just once.
His eyes narrowed, as if finally understanding that she wanted to be any other place than where she was standing now. “You want to know why it sucked shit?” he asked impatiently.
Maria had no clue where he was going with this, but she didn’t think she cared to follow, so she shook her head.
Her negative response didn’t stop him from giving her an answer, though. “It sucked shit because Villareal happens to be a player. Evidently, he thought the way to soften me up to his terms was to get me laid.”
The blunt response sent a provocative shiver down her spine for several reasons. One, she didn’t want to think about Garrett getting laid. Two, she didn’t want to acknowledge the reason she didn’t want to think about him getting laid. And three, the question of why he was telling her all of this was screwing with her head and making the butterflies stronger, all at the same time.
When she continued to remain silent, he pushed away from the chair and took several steps towards her, as if he were stalking prey. “You want to know the reason that the thought of getting laid by some random chick in the Keys sucked shit, Maria?”
Quickly, she shook her head. No, she didn’t think she wanted to know. Not if she didn’t want a mess of convoluted crap exploding this very second.
He took another two steps forward and stopped, blasting her with an angry, accusatory look. “Can’t think about fucking anybody but you.” As he scanned her up and down, his words sent a vicious hit to her equilibrium and she put a hand out to the table, balancing herself before she fell over.
He resumed walking toward her and Maria began scooting backwards, until her back hit the tiled wall. Within seconds, he came to stand in front of her, and lifted her chin with a single finger. His voice when he spoke was low, rumbling, “I know this is the point where you start screaming about lawsuits and harassment.” He stared down into her eyes and she began having to fight an almost-overwhelming need to lean into him. His words turned harsher as he continued, “but I don’t want to hear that shit right now. Do me a favor and save it for later.”
Still unable to get her vocal chords to function, all she could do was stand on her own two feet and clutch the towel around her middle while he studied her with penetrating eyes. Roughly, almost violently, he put his hand at the top of the towel and with a smooth, aggressive move, whipped it from her and tossed it away.
Galvanized by his action, she attempted to jerk from his hold, tried to get away and leave, but he sank his fists around her wrists and held her arms down at her sides while he looked her over. His gaze was glued to her breasts, and with a dart of heat, she realized he was looking at the fading bruise on her chest that he was responsible for. “Did it hurt?” he asked in a low, heated voice.
She swallowed, her heart hammering, and forced out an appropriate answer. “No, but you had no right.”
His gaze left her chest and forcefully landed on hers. “You don’t think so?”
“No,” she panted, attempting to wrench away from him again.
His hands clamped down hard, holding her in place and his answer came abruptly. “How fast do you think I’d own the right if I set my mind to it?”
At his words, she grew still as she sucked in a breath, realizing she had little control over her wayward attraction to him. If he gave it his all, as he intimated he might, she’d undoubtedly be doomed before the contest even began.
His fists still holding her wrists, she felt his thumbs begin to caress her skin. “Come on, baby. We both know where this is headed.”
Maria literally felt her eyelids get heavy as her legs began to tremble. Her body might be experiencing a certain physical weakness, but she still retained control of her voice, and she attempted with everything she had to make it strong now. “I’m not going to tell you again. Leave me alone, Garrett.”
A dark cloud descended on his face. “That is not fucking happening.”
Her brain splitting and feeling as if she were losing all control, she attempted to put up a fight. “I’m going to—”
“Yeah, I know,” he interrupted, dragging in a harsh breath. “You want your day in court, got it. Might as well give you some decent ammunition against me.” His gaze slid quickly down her bathing suit to her legs and his muscles seemed to tense where he stood. Holding her wrists hostage, he let out a tormented groan and pushed his torso flush against hers. His erection was full and straining against his pants, pushing into her stomach.