What He Decides(10)

“Charlotte,” he said. “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“It means that if you do not get out of that chair right now and follow me out of this office, I will pick you up and carry you out.” His voice was low, growly, not threatening, but filled with a steely detachment, like he was a man resigned to doing what he had to do.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I tried.

“Very well.” He nodded and removed his suit coat, dropped it onto the chair next to me and then began rolling up his sleeves. The blonde receptionist’s eyes widened.

Oh, sweetheart, I thought, you have no idea.

“Okay, okay,” I said, standing up. “I’ll go with you.”

He nodded in satisfaction, reached down and picked up his coat, then turned and walked from the room.

And after a moment, I followed him.



***



“Where are we going?” I asked once we were out on the street.

“Get in the car, Charlotte,” Noah said, holding the back door of his car open. “You lost the right to ask questions when you decided to behave so irresponsibly.”

I hesitated. I was torn – part of me wanted to refuse to go with him, to tell him nothing had changed just because I’d sent that email. I was still stick of his constant need to dominate me and I was done allowing him to boss me around. The other part of me was thrilled to see him, frissons of excitement streaming through my body, my heart racing with happiness at the thought of spending time with him.

And a tiny part of me, beneath all of that, was scared.

Not of Noah.

But of what I’d done.

Noah wouldn’t have come storming into Clementine’s office like that, threatening to pick me up and carry me out of there unless he thought I was in real danger.

“Charlotte,” Noah said, still holding the door open. A vein throbbed in his neck. “The easy way or the hard way.”

“You wouldn’t pick me up out here on the street in front of everyone,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Someone might call the police.”

“As far as you’re concerned, Charlotte, I am the police.” He moved toward me, bent slightly at the waist, and scooped me up before I could stop him.

“Okay, okay!” I said as my feet left the ground. “I’ll get in the car. Please, just put me down!”

He didn’t listen. He held me tight, then placed me gently into the backseat of his car. He shook his head, his face inches from mine. “You’re impossible,” he said, his voice husky, his eyes blazing with fury and desire. For one heart-stopping moment I was sure he was going to lay his body on top of mine and fuck me right here in the back of the car. But instead, he slid inside and shut the door.

“Jared,” Noah said to his driver, his voice clipped. “Please take us back to my apartment.”

“Yes, sir.”

“No, Jared,” I said. “I’d like to go home, please.”

“My apartment, Jared,” Noah demanded.

“No,” I said.

Of course my words meant nothing -- Jared knew better than to defy his boss.

“If you don’t take me home, I’ll get out of the car right now,” I threatened.

Noah sighed, then met Jared’s eye in the rearview mirror. He gave Jared a slight nod, but I knew what it meant. It meant Jared should head for my apartment -- but deep in the back of Noah’s mind, he thought he’d be able to convince me to go back to his apartment with him.

It was infuriating.

And yet I could already feel myself beginning to lose the moxy that had made me mouth off. Noah’s presence was setting me on edge. He was so intimidating, in his elegantly cut suit, his hair falling over his forehead. He was freshly shaven and his scent was intoxicating – expensive laundry detergent and manly cologne and something else, something Noah that made my stomach somersault and my heart light on fire.

He hit the button for the partition, and it slid up, leaving us in privacy.

“Do you know where I’ve been all night, Charlotte?” Noah asked quietly.

“Force with Clementine?” I asked, surprising myself with my audacity. “Or maybe with one of the other women who will be testifying at your evidentiary hearing? Maybe you were with one of them.”

“Don’t you dare talk back to me.” He grabbed me and pulled me close, crushing me against his chest. I tried to pull away, but he held me tight, his hips pushing into mine and sending heat rushing to my center. “I was roaming the streets, Charlotte. I was walking this entire city searching for you. I was out of my mind with worry. I thought you’d been abducted, I thought you’d been hurt, I thought you could have been dead.” He reached out and touched my cheek, like he wanted to make sure that I was really here, that I was okay, that I hadn’t been hurt after all.