Fyre & Revenge Read Free Page B

trailed off, her amusement
getting the better of her. “Even for you JJ, that’s taking the
piss!”
    But he wasn’t
laughing. Her smile died away as he looked at her steadily, not
even a smile gracing his lips. Just that hard look on his face. A
look she recognised. It was the one he wore when he’d set his mind
on something, and would stop at nothing to get it.
    “You’re not
joking. You’ve gotta be kidding me! What is this…some sort of
blackmail? You
are
aware this is the twenty-first century
aren’t you?”
    “No, I’m not
joking and I’m quite aware of the date thank you. But this isn’t
blackmail—”
    She cut him off
with a derisive snort. “Not blackmail huh? Sorry buddy, but from
where I’m standing it looks an awful
lot
like
blackmail.”
    His face was
like granite, his eyes unreadable.
    “Not at all,”
he said lightly, walking around the desk and toward her. A loose
limbed stride that reminded her of a big cat, poised and ready to
strike.
    “Blackmail
implies I haven’t given you a choice.” He didn’t stop until he was
barely a pace away. So close she could feel his body heat burning
through her clothes. She looked up, refusing to back down at the
subtle intimidation.
    “But I haven’t
done that, have I Zette?” He captured her with his gaze, the direct
look in his eyes mesmerising her. “All I’ve done is told you what
it’ll take to get me to…disappear those problems. You don’t have to
take that offer, now do you? You can just walk away…”
    She swallowed,
her eyes flicking from one of his to the other. Studying the
expression on his face and trying to work out what he was playing
at. From arriving with so much confidence the situation had rapidly
degenerated. She was out of her depth here.
Way
out of her
depth.
    “You used to
find me attractive,” he murmured, his voice weaving its own spell
around her, aided and abetted by the scent of his skin-warmed
aftershave. “…used to watch me from behind those books of
yours.”
    He smiled as
she stiffened, instantly cursing as she gave herself away. “Didn’t
think I realised? Oh, I realised all right.”
    Zette snorted
and retreated a step to slide past him. She headed to the window,
looking out to admire the view. Not that she gave it more than a
passing glance, staring out into the distance. She just needed that
physical distance from his overwhelming presence. Before she did
something stupid.
    “I was a kid.
That’s the thing about childhood crushes—you grow out of them.”
    “Prove it.” His
voice was a silky demand behind her. Like a lake that looked smooth
and inviting on the surface but with dangerous undercurrents. From
experience Zette didn’t trust his mild tone one little bit.
    “What?” she
asked over her shoulder, not turning just yet. Not daring to until
she’d worked out what the hell was going on. And how she was going
to get out of this mess with the result she’d come here to get.
    “Prove it,” he
repeated, his voice closer as he moved up behind her, his breath
fanning over the delicate skin of her neck. “Prove you’re over
it…over me. Kiss me.”
    A nervous laugh
escaped her. “Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t have to do anything of
the sort!” The
last
thing she wanted to do was kiss JJ.
She knew all it would take was one touch, and the whole charade was
going to tumble down and leave her defenceless. Defenceless and
exposed to his scorn as she had been all those years ago.
    “You can’t, can
you?” he taunted softly from behind her.
    He didn’t move
or touch her. She wasn’t expecting him to. This game was pure JJ,
an exercise in control before he got what he wanted. He’d refined
it a little in the years since she’d last seen him but it was still
the same basic formula, driven by sheer ruthlessness.
    A ruthlessness
that made her shiver from the top of her head right down to her
toes in the expensive leather pumps she wore.
    “I’ll make you
a deal. Prove you can kiss me and