He sits up in the bed and stares down at me. The muscles in his arms are tensing. He’s trying to control his breath, inhaling deeply and holding it before letting it out in a sigh.

He’s annoyed.

Join the club, partner!

“Fucking talk to me or I swear to God…” He trails off, leaving his threat to linger in the air, letting my mind fill in the blank with my worst fears.

Or I’ll walk out that door and never come back.

“Elizabeth!” he shouts, exasperated. Note to self, Austin can’t stand the silent treatment. Maybe I do have a little power over him after all.

“Fine!” I shout back at him. The bed sheets are thin, but I make sure to keep them in place around me before I confront him. I shoot straight up in bed, squaring my shoulders, and glare at him. “You’re such an ass.”

We lock eyes with excruciating intensity. The tension between us is off the charts. Austin’s fists are clenched at his sides and his nostrils flare with each angry breath he takes. I have no idea if he wants to kiss me or kill me. I know the feeling.

“I want to be sexy. Irresistible,” I hiss.

“You are.” His voice is frank, flat.

“Obviously, I’m not.” I gesture between us, illustrating the blatant distance.

My resistibility.

His rejection.

His face shifts from anger to something closer to confusion.

“Jesus, do I have to spell it out for you? I want to touch you, all right! I want to make you come. I want to have the same power over your body as you so clearly have over mine. But you don’t seem to care and begging to touch your cock makes me sound like some desperate slut. So, like I said, forget it. Never. Mind.”

Embarrassing rant complete, I flop back down onto the bed again and slap my hands over my face to hide how red I know I must be. I don’t make a sound. I don’t move an inch. I don’t even breathe. Every ounce of my being is focused on the giant man in my bed, trying to figure out what he’s going to do next.

If he’s smart, he’ll run.

He doesn’t.

Austin lies down in bed next to me, tracing the line of my jaw with his nose. His lips tease my neck as his sultry baritone whispers, “Goose, if you want to touch me, all you had to do was say so.”

“I just did,” I deadpan. My heart’s about to beat out of my chest, but I’m sure as hell not going to admit it.

“Always such a smartass.” Without warning, he pushes my hand down into his boxers and wraps it around his hard length. I gasp.

Holy shit.

Holy shit!

Holy FUCKING shit!