***

Was it possible that blood could actually boil? I started to sweat on the elevator ride up to the seventh floor. It felt like heat was pouring from my pores—I was that pissed off.

Not only had I made sure the jerk had a chance to present his ideas to Tobias, but I’d never said one bad word about him, never tried to manipulate my friendship with Tobias to gain an advantage. And what does the jackass do? He makes up lies about me so I look like a dumbass talking to the client.

The elevator doors slid open, and I marched down to room 7003. Without taking a minute to calm myself, I banged on the door. When it didn’t open in three seconds, I banged some more—this time louder. The door swung open mid knock.

“What the fuck?” Bennett roared.

If I hadn’t been so pissed off, I might’ve been distracted by the sight of a shirtless Bennett Fox standing on the other side. But I was furious, so seeing he had chiseled abs only made me angrier.

Of course he also has a perfect body. What a dick.

I marched right past him, into his hotel room.

He stood there blinking for a moment, seeming confused as to what the hell was going on. Eventually, he shook his head and let go of the doorknob still in his hand.

“Come on in. I wasn’t in the middle of getting undressed or anything.”

“You have some nerve.”

“I have lots of nerve. You’ll need to be more specific about what crawled up your ass.”

His playing dumb made me lose my cool. Not that I’d been too much in control before, but I snapped.

I got right in his face and jabbed my finger into his chest. “I’m in a committed relationship with Marina? What the hell is wrong with you!”

“Oh. That.”

“I’ve done nothing but right by you, and how do you repay me? You go and tell the client I’m having an affair with a woman in the office, so I look completely unprofessional!”

He raised his hands as if he were surrendering. “No. No. That’s not what I meant to do at all.”

“Oh really? So you accidentally told our client I was sleeping with our assistant and meant to what? Make me look professional?”

Bennett ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing!”

“The guy’s a dirtbag. I was trying to keep things professional. I said it so he wouldn’t hit on you.”

“You’re so full of shit that I think you actually start to believe your own lies, and that’s what makes your ridiculous excuses so believable. You’re a master of manipulating things to screw with people when they’re feeling vulnerable.”

I made a pout and mimicked his sorry-ass apologies. “I’m sorry, Annalise. I was jealous. Oh no, I was trying to protect you from the big, bad client.”

Bennett’s jaw clenched as he stared at me. “I wasn’t manipulating you.”

Frustrated, I turned to walk out. But then I thought better of it and went back for one last question. “Why are you even still here, Bennett?”

It pissed me off that he was playing games. His nostrils flared like he had reason to be pissed off.

“Answer me!”

In the blink of an eye, my back was up against the door, and Bennett was all around me. His face ducked down to line up with mine, and his forearms pressed firmly against the door on either side of my face. His bare chest heaved up and down so close to mine, I could feel the heat radiating from it. Fire turned the soft green of his eyes to a near gray.

“I’m here because I can’t fucking keep away.”

My jaw dropped. “I don’t understand.”

“Well, that makes two of us.”

Nothing made sense. One minute we got along great, and I saw slivers of a person I really liked. But then…

“Why do you keep hurting me?”

Bennett hung his head for a moment while I tried to take in what was happening.

When he looked up, his eyes were filled with remorse. “I don’t mean to hurt you. I just…you make me crazy. In thirty-one years, I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you, and of course, you’re the one woman I can’t have.”

I swallowed. My heart felt like it was ricocheting against my chest. “I don’t believe you,” I whispered.

His eyes dropped to my mouth, and he groaned. The sound shot straight between my legs, and my lips parted with a tiny gasp I hoped he didn’t hear.

But the wicked grin spreading across his face told me he’d most definitely heard it.

“You don’t believe me? What should we do about that?”

“Bennett, I—”

He reached out, wound his fingers tightly into my hair, and tugged me flush against him. His lips crashed down on mine, swallowing the rest of my words. I was shocked at how I felt it all over—my body lit up like a Christmas tree from just one simple connection. His hands slid up to cup my cheeks, and he tilted my head, dipping his tongue inside my mouth. My purse and portfolio carrier fell to the floor. Everything else around us ceased to exist.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and dug my nails into his hair. He groaned again and reached around to my ass, squeezing two handfuls while lifting me off my feet. My legs wrapped around his waist. God, I love skirts.

With me open to him, Bennett pressed his body against mine. I felt the hard length of him meet my heat, and he growled.

“Fuck. You feel so damn good.”

I whimpered when he deepened the kiss, digging my nails into his back and clinging to him. Our kiss was desperate and needy, down and dirty, and I could feel a heart beating a million miles an hour, although I wasn’t sure if it was his or mine. When we finally came up for air, we were panting, and I felt dizzy.

Bennett nuzzled into my neck while I attempted to catch my breath. He kissed his way from my collarbone up to my ear.

“There are so many things I want to do to you.”

I loved the gravelly sound of his voice.

“Like what?” I whispered.

I felt his lips curve into a smile against my neck. “I want to taste you everywhere.” He gave a slight, unexpected yank to my hair and exposed more of my neck while he kissed his way back down.

“Yes.”

“I want to bury my face between your legs until you scream out my name.”

“Yes.”

“I want you on all fours so I can be everywhere, so you can’t think or feel anything but me. One hand playing with your tits, the other one fingering your ass. My cock rocking deep inside of you.” He ground his erection against my exposed center, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.

Oh God. It felt so good. My body began to vibrate. I started to think I might be able to come from just the feel of him against me and the sound of his sexy voice telling me what he wanted to do.

Things between Andrew and me had never been like this, not even at the beginning.

Bennett lifted and carried me from against the door into his room. I expected my back to hit the bed, but instead he set me down on my feet next to it and took a slight step back. His glazed eyes raked up and down my body, and for a few heartbeats, I thought he might be rethinking what was happening, what was about to happen.

“Undress for me.”

The assertive tone and strained sound of his voice showered goosebumps all over my body. Sometimes his confidence made me want to smack him. Apparently other times it made me want to strip naked.

I unbuttoned my blouse and looked up at him. There’d been so many times when I was unsure whether to trust him or not, but the kind of desire I saw in his hooded eyes now couldn’t be faked.

“I haven’t been able to focus on anything since the day you walked into the office,” he said. “You’ve starred in all my fantasies, even when I tried to hate you.”

I slipped my shirt from my shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

“Take off the skirt.”

It was easy to feel bold the way he was looking at me. I reached back, unzipped my pencil skirt, and shimmied it down to the ground. I was grateful I’d worn a pretty, lacy bra and thong that helped my confidence. I stood tall, wearing just my lingerie and heels.

Bennett flicked open the button of his trousers. His happy trail made me pretty damn happy. He removed his pants, and my eyes went wide at the bulge in his tight boxer shorts.

Damn. Now I know where the cocky confidence comes from.

He lifted his chin. “Bra.”

I unfastened the clasp and tossed it aside. My nipples were already hard, but they grew painfully swollen as I watched him lick his lips.

“You’re incredible.”

I loved the way he demanded things, but I wanted to show him I was right there with him. So I took a deep breath, hooked my thumbs into the sides of my panties, and slipped off my last shred of clothing without him telling me to.

Bennett smiled like he knew exactly what I’d communicated. His eyes did a slow sweep over me and darkened, yet they sparkled with a mischievous glint.