Chapter 11 The Penthouse
“What is wrong with you?” I whisper-yelled at him, my face burning red in anger at his audacity.
“You’re not seeing him again”, he responded, making me glare up at him.
“What?! Do you hear yourself right now?”
“Loud and clear”, he drily stated, his sarcastic tone getting on my nerves.
“You can’t tell me who I can or cannot see.” I indignantly argued, trying to ignore the way his grave grey eyes fixated me in place.
“Is that so?” He taunted, leaning toward me.
His hand flexed on my thigh, tightening his hold on me ever so slightly, making me realize he still hadn’t removed it.
I tried to slap his hand away but he just grinned down at me, enjoying watching me squirm beneath his gaze.
“Move your hand, Daniel”, I had meant to sound assertive but instead my voice came out breathier than ever like I was pleading with him.
“You’re so cute when you’re all flustered”, his grin widened as he bit down on his lower lip, his tone dropping as he continued,” Your skin turns the rosiest shade of red, blooming right here.” He tapped a finger on the vein of my neck, tracing my pulse.
I gulped audibly as he trailed a finger down from the side of my neck down to my collarbones.
I almost stopped breathing when I realized that along with his finger, his eyes had also dropped…. from my face… to my chest.
I tried to adjust my T-shirt but only ended up making it worse, painfully aware of his eyes trailing down my unintended cleavage. I internally cursed Rosalind’s A cups as I tried to retain some part of my dignity.
“Daniel?”, I meekly asked, struggling to get that one word out.
He moved his hand away from my leg.
“Don’t wear that damn shirt again”, Daniel darkly said,” Unless you want me to rip it off you.”
He tore his gaze away from me and I let out a harsh breath. My nipples poked against the thank-fucking-God thick fabric of the shirt. If Daniel had noticed, he would’ve made it out that I was actually turned on by his staring (which I of course wasn’t). I would’ve never lived it down.
I tried to ignore the way my thighs clenched at his last words, making me cross my legs for some relief as an ache developed down there.
“Do you even want to eat here?” He suddenly asked, snapping me out of the dirty recesses of my mind.
“Um, what do you mean?”
“We could eat at my place if you want to.”
Any other time I would’ve declined but I knew there was a high possibility of me choking on my food here, hyper-aware of so many eyes on me, the incessant thought that they were talking about me already had me queasy.
“I want to,” my words hung in the air, filled with more meaning than I intended.
“Wait, but….”, I suddenly started, terrified I would have to face his uncle again so soon.
“Don’t worry, I’m taking you to my penthouse. It’ll be just you and me”, he pointedly said, making sure I realized that he knew the reason for my panic.
I resist the urge to slap a hand on my mouth. I’d just completely outed myself to him.
If he wasn’t sure if my ‘feelings’ for his uncle were pretty much disgust and fear before, he definitely was now.
My heart dipped in my chest, contracting painfully.
If he asked me again…..I wasn’t sure I had it in me to deny the truth to him.
An hour later, I’m in Daniel’s penthouse kitchen, in complete awe of the vast remote area. I knew he was really wealthy but still, this caught me off guard. It was so beautifully structured like the architect had given intensive thought to every last intricate detail. Even the henna-sculpted design on the roof. I couldn’t help but stare up at it.
“This might be the most beautiful home I’ve ever seen.” I thought out loud, making Daniel crack a small smile as he told me where the plates were.
I laid out the plates as he brought the food out.
“How did you know I was a vegetarian?” I asked him as he served himself chicken and tofu for me.
“All I’ve ever seen you eat is that green leafy shit in the cafeteria”, he replied, digging into his food.
My stomach flipped, getting that stupid fluttery feeling in my gut. He’d noticed me enough to know what I ate. Which was not that important. Obviously. It did not mean anything.
“Holy crackers! This might be the best tofu roll I’ve ever had”, I almost moaned from delight.
“Tofu can only get so good, but I guess anything would taste good when you’re half-starved”, he admonished, shooting me a disapproving look.
“Can you not ruin this for me, please”, I gave him my best big-brown eyed puppy look. “My God, this might be the best meal I’ve ever had.”
Embarrassingly enough I moaned this time but the food was so good, I couldn’t care less.
“If I get to hear you moan like that, I might have to feed you 24/7.” His suggestive tone did things to my body. And his flirty wink caught me completely off guard, making me blush wildly.
“You’ve got something on there”, I told him and he looked at me confused.
And without thinking, I leaned over the table and reached out to dab at the corner of his mouth. He caught my hand, keeping it in place. “There was sauce on…”, I tried to explain myself but he cut me off.
His tongue dived out and licked the sauce off my finger. His eyes locked on mine as he sucked my finger into his mouth. I took in a harsh breath, heat curling in my lower belly. My body slightly jolted with every flick of his tongue against my index finger.
He popped out my finger from his mouth with a wet pop, grinning a devious grin. The bastard really enjoyed flustering me.
“Thank you.” He remarked like he was a real ‘gentleman’. His mouth remained upturned in the most annoying grin as I tried and failed to look unaffected.