Chapter 5

Grayson stands before me with a frown on his face.

It makes me frown in return. Even though I’m angry at him, I can’t help but notice his size and how hot he looks with sweat trickling down his neck.

“What are you doing here?” he says in a low voice.

What am I doing here? The nerve of this guy!

“You stood me up.” I practically spit the words out.

All he does is raise a brow in return.

“Remember the plea bargain? To discuss your charges?”

Why am I so flustered right now?

He folds his arms over his chest. “I never said I would come.”

I feel my eyes widen at first, so I narrow them quickly and say, “You don’t get a choice in the matter. I tell you to come—you come.”

He glances around at his teammates as they start to move in our direction. Then he takes hold of my elbow and starts steering me away.

I snatch my arm back. He opens the door I came through, giving me a look as if he’s demanding I go through it. It makes me want to dig my heels in and stay where I am, but he’s right. The field is not the place to have this conversation.

I follow him down the hall and stop behind him when he opens a door. I walk through it. He closes the door behind us and turns to face me. “What’s the problem?”

“Seriously? You think I don’t deserve your time. That you’re such a big shot that you can just brush off your arrest. Do you think it’ll all go away as if nothing ever happened?”

He takes a step toward me. “I don’t think it’ll all go away. I didn’t turn up because I had to be at training, so I sent my lawyer in my place. The lawyer you told me to get.”

“Funny. He seemed to think you’d be attending with him.”

“Then he’s an idiot.”

“And you’re the one who hired him. Wouldn’t that make you an idiot, too?”

His lips turn up into a smile. I’d like to say it doesn’t affect me, but it does. And I’d never let him see that.

“I told you to be at my office, Grayson. If I tell you to do something, you do it.”

Something flashes in his eyes and he takes another step closer to me. The room suddenly feels a lot smaller. “I like a woman who takes charge.”

“I don’t care what you like in a woman.”

He steps closer. “The thing is, I think you do care. That’s why you’re so pissed that I didn’t show up. That’s why you’ve come all the way here.…”

“You’re very close to crossing a line,” I tell him.

“Maybe I like crossing lines,” he says, taking another step. He’s close now. Too close.

My heart is beating hard in my chest. My breathing becomes quicker.

Take control of this situation now, Mel, before it gets out of hand.