The Sinner's Bargain (Contracts & Deceptions #2) (8 page)

“Who’s John?” Amara asked looking around. Liz returned and handed Amara a glass of red wine. She was glad to have something to do with her hands.

“John is my boyyyyfriend,” Liz answered in a low voice that was above a whisper, below a shout, definitely louder than she intended.

“You are such a lightweight,” Brandon said with a chuckle.

“I know,” Liz whined.

“What department does he work in?”

“He’s the head of accounting,” Brandon answered as Liz ran off in the direction of someone she wanted to speak to.

“An accountant that likes to party. That’s cool,” Amara said, smiling.

Brandon raised his eyebrows with a smile. “It seems this entire company likes to party.”

Amara smiled, not knowing what to say. She didn’t know very many people, but Colin wasn’t much of a partier.

“There he is, the man of the hour,” Brandon said, breaking into Amara’s thoughts. Her eyes snapped up to the door where Colin stood, taking her breath away. He was wearing a white button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his forearms, and blue pants. His wavy hair was in its usual, organized disarray, the way only he could pull off. Colin smiled as he greeted everyone; the side of his mouth was pleated in a grin, the lines nearly hidden under the beard on his face that filled in more each day. Amara didn’t like facial hair, but his was well-kempt and looked ….decidedly sexy. She found herself smiling with him, his laugh contagious. Amara’s smile faltered when she noticed the woman beside him. Clad in a red, knee-length dress, her blonde hair piled up into an up-do that matched her impeccable make up, was Molly. She wasn’t an extraordinary woman—wasn’t beautiful—but she had a smile that radiated confidence.

Molly walked forward, greeting one of the women standing by the door and flashed the ring on her left hand in the process. The engagement ring. Even from where she stood, Amara could make out the huge rock on her finger. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to keep her stomach from heaving. The thought of him picking out a ring for another woman and his ensuing proposal made her feel sick.
His proposal.
How had he asked her? Had he gotten down on one knee? Did he take her to a fancy restaurant or plan a picnic? Did he ask her beneath the stars? Amara forced herself to stop thinking about it. She had to shut the thoughts out of her brain before she lost control.

“You okay?” Brandon asked quietly.

Amara looked at him and nodded with a small smile. “How long do we have to stay?”

“You ready to run off?”

She nodded again, suddenly not feeling like using her voice. Despite the warning bells ringing in her head, Amara looked back toward Colin, his eyes finding hers. He looked surprised for a moment, as if he were startled by seeing her. Perhaps he was too busy paying attention to his fiancée to think about Amara. He had to be aware of the way her heart felt like it was being stomped on with every minute she remained in the room. She wanted to run—wanted to let the wine glass fall from her hands and run out of there as fast as she could, but Colin’s eyes, the intensity in them as they blazed, locked on hers and kept Amara rooted in place.

And in that moment, she was angry. Beneath the pain tearing up her stomach, there was a bubbling anger that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was angry at him…at Molly…at herself… at everyone, even her mother. Colin’s gaze shifted from her face, to travel down the length of her body slowly, the way he did when he was mentally undressing her. He did it purposefully when he wanted her to be hyper-aware of him. He liked it when he made her heart feel like it was sputtering out of her chest, and the longer she stood there, clutching her glass so hard she was afraid it would shatter, the more she felt like clawing his eyes out.

He had no right to look at her that way. Not when they were in a room full of people, among them, his fiancée! Colin licked his lips slowly, dragging his tongue along the seam of his mouth and placing it between his teeth before sucking it back into his mouth. It was something he knew drove her crazy. How many times had she leaned into his mouth and sucked his tongue into hers when he did that? He was doing it on purpose, seducing her with his eyes…his lips…in a way that made her feel like she was burning from the inside out.

Amara stood beside Brandon, who was busy on his phone, until she finished her glass of wine. Molly still stood beside Colin, but thankfully had kept her hands off of him. Amara had had enough. Putting her glass down with a clink, she turned to Brandon as he finished his call.

“You want another drink?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ve reached my limit.”

“One glass is your limit?” he asked, whistling out a breath.

“No, I’ve reached my time limit for being here. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she said with a smile.

Brandon nodded in understanding, then leaned toward her ear so that only she could hear his words. “I don’t blame you. You did good.”

A ghost of a smile appeared over her face. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

He laughed and shook his head. “One day you’ll tell me.”

“Nothing to tell,” she said with a shrug, then reached up to kiss his cheek.

“I’m almost ready to go. You sure you don’t want to stick around a couple more minutes?”

“I’m positive.”

Amara weaved through the crowd until she reached the door of the room, then turned and looked over her shoulder at Colin, one last time. When their eyes met, his were serious, contradicting the smile on his face. The longing between them loaded their gaze and weighted it down with emotion. Startled as she was jostled from behind, Amara turned and disappeared into the hallway. Her feet were on autopilot as she made her way toward the elevator. Once inside, she looked at her reflection: her long dark hair, olive skin and amber, almond shaped eyes were the complete opposite of Molly in every way. Good or bad, she didn’t know. As the elevator chimed, she stepped out into the empty lobby.

Amara approached her desk with every intention of simply grabbing her purse and leaving, but noticed the door of Colin’s office was standing open. Her heels clinked on the hardwood floor as she walked toward it, unable to resist being surrounded by all things Colin. His office shouldn’t feel as warm as it did. It shouldn’t beckon to her the way it did. It was just a space with a desk and a bookshelf, but it was the place in which he spent the majority of his time. Amara rounded the desk and sat in his chair. She turned her face to the side and buried it into the soft leather, inhaling the scent of him. Before she got caught up in emotion, Amara stood and walked to the window to catch the last of the sunset over the Manhattan skyline. It was such a beautiful sight at this level. She placed her hands flat on the glass, wishing she could fade with the sun to take a break from the madness.

Footsteps behind Amara alerted her that she wasn’t alone. She turned to find Colin in the doorway to his office, the look in his eyes making her heart leap into her throat.

“Why did you leave?”

Amara swallowed and licked her lips before she answered. “I just needed space.”

“So you decided to hide out in my office?”

She shrugged and fixed her gaze on the window again.

“Did you meet anybody new?”

Closing her eyes, Amara pressed her forehead on the glass. “I met a couple, yeah.”

She kept her eyes closed even as she heard the door shut. Amara’s breath quickened as Colin’s footfalls brought him to a stop behind her.

“Does it kill you to see me with another woman?” he whispered near her ear.

“No,” she lied.

His hand curled over arm, her eyes popped open as he turned her to face him. His eyes searched his. “No?”

The intensity in Amara’s stare matched his as she thought about his question and replayed the way Molly showed off the ring that should have been on Amara’s finger. She tried to mute her emotions—it was better to be angry than heartbroken.

“What do you want me to tell you, Colin? That I hate you? That I can’t stand the sight of you right now? That I wish you would leave me the fuck alone? What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be downstairs?”

Colin’s nose flared, his eyes narrowing in anger. “Shouldn’t you not be in my office?”

“I came in here to make sure you didn’t leave anything for me on top of your desk.”

“You weren’t anywhere near my desk.”

“I didn’t realize enjoying the view for five seconds was a crime,” Amara seethed, inching closer to him, as if her mouth being close to his face was going to make him listen better.

He dipped his face so they were standing nose to nose again, their breaths mingling with one another’s, their eyes wild with anger and contained lust. Amara wanted to claw his face and rip his shirt open at the same time. The emotion in Colin’s eyes made it clear he was warring with similar thoughts.

“Did you need anything else or are we done?”

“We are so far from done, Amara. You and I will never be
done
.”

A short laugh escaped her lips. “What would Molly say about that? Maybe she needs to remind you that I’m only
temporary
.”

His eyes were filled with anger as he took a step forward, making her retreat backward into the window, her elbow pinging sharply against the glass. The feel of Colin’s hard chest against her softness muted the sting in her elbow. The familiarity of his cologne made her head swim, bringing back memories she didn’t welcome. Amara placed her hands flat on his chest and pushed. Colin’s hands covered hers and pressed them until she could feel the wild beating of his heart.

“Let go,” she said as he chuckled at the lack of conviction in her voice. A shiver ran through her as the timbre in his laugh resonated through her, as if he electrocuted her fingers with it and it zapped through her body.

“Maybe next time you’ll say what you mean.”

Amara glared at him. “I hate you.”

Colin’s lips tilted in a slow smile. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

“Let go,” she said again with more force, gritting her teeth.

“Let go,” he repeated, testing out the idea. Even as he said the words, he leaned in closer, his soft, full lips brushing against hers. “Let go,” he whispered, his eyes closing. Amara’s lips parted, her heart thumped around in the cage of her chest. “But I can’t let go, Mara. Do you really want me to?” His lips were only a breath away, but he didn’t close the distance. Amara felt like she was going to explode. Her hands slid up the front of his shirt to his collar, her hands fisting in the fabric. She pulled, smashing her mouth against his. The kiss was frenzied. Their tongues carried the weight of their tension, the strokes whips and lassos, warning and begging at the same time. Colin’s fingers weaved into Amara’s hair and pulled at the nape of her neck, breaking the kiss and letting the groan of loss fill the air. His mouth reached the hollow of her throat in desperation, his tongue searching, his lips sucking as Amara placed her hands on the back of his head, beseeching him to keep going, her grip threatening him not to stop.

Colin’s head snapped up and he looked at her, his eyes drinking in her face as Amara’s burned in lust.

“Why’d you stop?” she breathed.

“Turn around,” he said in a low voice that made her nipples tighten.

Amara pivoted, leaning back against him, and inhaled sharply when he pushed his chest against her back and pressed her into the cold window.

His breath was on her ear. “When I first got this office, the only thing I thought about was fucking you against this window. Overlooking the city, just like this,” he said, grinding his erection into her ass. “Would you like to be fucked here?”

“That depends,” she responded, though the neediness in her voice betrayed her words.

“On?” he asked.

“Have you fucked anybody else in here?” she asked, inhaling sharply as he pushed his hips against her backside.

“Would that bother you?” he asked in a murmur before sucking her earlobe into his mouth.

“Yes,” she moaned, throwing her head back against his shoulder.

“Well I haven’t,” he said, dropping kisses along her jaw, down her neck and along her shoulder.

“Are you lying?” She turned in his arms and he rocked back, his eyes flashing to hers.

“I don’t lie to you,” he said as his hands traveled around her back to unzip her dress. She let the top fall off her shoulders to pool around her waist, leaving her breasts exposed. Colin raised his large hands to squeeze her breasts, his thumbs teasing the pert nipples.

Amara shivered at the possessive look in his eyes. Her hand drifted between them to cup his erection. She massaged it with the same ardor he was using on her breasts, and Colin’s eyes hooded, his head dropping back with a moan. His hand left her breasts and traveled to the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. She watched the emotion flit across Colin’s face, his defined cheekbones flexing as he clenched and unclenched his jaw, his eyes dark with a lust that equaled hers. Her hand left his erection to throw her arms around his neck, unable to wait any longer to press herself against him. And Colin didn’t make her. His lips claimed hers with an intensity that bruised, a desire that burned, and a need that could only be described as primal. In that moment, history didn’t exist outside of what they’d made together.

The kiss broke after long moments. Still clutching the other in their desperation, they searched the other’s eyes to gauge willingness to continue.

“Turn around,” Colin said, finding his answer, his voice commanding and rough. Amara didn’t argue, she turned her back on him and faced the city again. “Put your hands on the glass.”

“Your tits look so good in the reflection,” he murmured, raking his short finger nails from her waist to her rib cage, the sensation making her shiver. “You’re wet right now, aren’t you?” he whispered as he pressed against her. He felt so hard she had a visual of his dick ripping through the fabric of his pants.

“Are you?” he asked holding the weight of her breasts in his hands as his thumbs began to stroke against her nipples again.

Amara’s head fell back on to his chest. “Yes.”