Page 77 of Hard Bargain

Knox straightened. “You saw me kiss a girl. That shouldn’t have mattered to you.” His head tilted. “But it did. Why?”

“You were being provocative.”

“That’s not what I asked. Why did it bother you?”

Dominic could feel the question pressing into the space between them, but he kept his mouth shut.

Amusement moved across Knox’s expression. “You know what I think? You were jealous.”

“No.”

Knox took a small step forward. The corridor felt considerably smaller than it had a moment ago.

“You saw me with her,” Knox said. “You came downstairs. You dragged me out of there.” He shook his head slowly. “That’s not jealousy?”

“I don’t get jealous,” Dominic said, voice even. “You don’t affect me like that.”

Knox’s eyes held his. “Then prove it.”

A beat.

“Prove what?”

“That I don’t affect you.”

Dominic almost laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You think this is a game?”

Knox stepped closer. “I think you’re hiding behind words and control.” Another step. “So let’s see.” The distance between them was nearly gone. “You keep saying I don’t affect you. But every time I push—”

“Careful,” Dominic said.

“—you react.”

His fingers slid into Dominic’s hair at the back of his head and tightened just enough to hold. Dominic felt the pull immediately. A primal awareness ran straight down his spine.

“Remove your hand.”

Knox didn’t. Instead he let it slide down, fingers curling lightly around the back of Dominic’s neck while his thumb traced a slow line along his throat. Testing. Measuring. His other hand came up and pressed flat against Dominic’s chest, palm warm through the shirt.

Dominic went completely still. Every instinct in his body lit up at once, impossible to ignore.

“Still nothing?” Knox murmured.

The hand began to move, slow and deliberate. His thumb dragged across Dominic’s nipple through the fabric, and the sensation detonated through him, his breath catching before he could control it. His shoulders locked. Every muscle went rigid under Knox’s hand.

Don’t give him that.

He hadn’t been fast enough. Knox had felt it. He saw the exact moment Knox knew—the small shift in his eyes, the subtle lift of his brows. His hand didn’t leave, if anything it settled more firmly, like he was confirming what he’d just found.

“Your heart just sped up,” Knox whispered.

“You’re imagining things.”

Knox’s mouth curved. Unconvinced. His hand slipped upward and his fingers moved behind Dominic’s neck, drawing him forward.

Dominic could have stopped it.

He didn’t.