“You!” Gideon huffed, groaning, “Do you really have no idea the effect you have?” He glowered at me, as I stared at him confused.
Finally Gideon snarled, and changed the subject “If they don’t have something over you, then why do you keep changing your mind about our wedding?”
I closed my mouth with a snap. Ok, they did actually have something over me.
My mother.
I gave Gideon a haunted glance.
“Aha!” the corner of his mouth pulled up in a sardonic grimace, “And that is why I can’t trust you.”
Long beats stretched between us.
“Look, we may each have our secrets.” I said finally, “But that doesn’t mean I’ll betray you.”
It was the closest to the truth I could manage for now.
I paused, then added, “And I did mean what I said, I’m sorry that I failed you in tonight.”
“You mean that? Truly?” Gideon grumbled.
“Then prove it.”
I stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant.
“How?” I asked, finally.
“You tell me.” Gideon stalked closer.
“You want me to believe your apology? Fine. Tell me what you’d be willing to do to make it up to me.”
My mind raced, trying to figure out what he could mean, as he took another step closer to me, pressing me against the door.
Avery’s POV
The front of his suit lapels brushed against my cleavage, we were that close.
I gulped, and my pulse galloped frantically at the side of my neck.
What sort of atonement would be good enough?
I tried to think back over what Gideon would like, what would please him, but I came up empty. He had thrown away my cake. I had been kidnapped the last time I had tried to plan a nice surprise by picking him strawberries.
Couldn’t he see I had been trying? I frowned in frustration.
“I…” I trailed off as Gideon stared at me expectantly.
“Well? What will you give?” He urged, impatiently. His eyes flickered to my mouth and I thought a whole chain of unsolicited thoughts about what I could give to him.
Damn that dream, and the way it kept rising to the top at the most inconvenient moments! For a second my skin flushed imagining the ways I could make it up to him.
I fought the urge to fan my heated cheeks.
“What… what are you interested in?” I asked, lamely.
Gideon’s gaze darkened, and his eyes darted down and back up again.
The room suddenly felt too still and close. It felt hard to breathe. My stomach was doing kickflips off my spine.
Slowly, Gideon raised one hand to my jaw. His thumb stroked over my bottom lip ever so slightly.
I remembered our dance, where it had felt for a moment, like magic. Before the poison had taken its effect and his wolf had slammed into control.
Had Gideon… been attracted to me?
His thumb drew back and I licked my lips nervously. Like a cat, his gaze followed the motion of my tongue, then shot back to meet mine with a heated look.
This couldn’t be happening. The Alpha of Nightwolf only saw me as an inconvenience. He had said so not even a few minutes before, that he couldn’t trust me!
So why did it now look like he wanted to kiss me?
“Avery…” Gideon’s voice was low. His face was coming closer to mine!
“Dinner!” I blurted out, “I’ll make you dinner!”
There was a knock at the door behind my head.
Gideon paused.
“Alpha?” came Tegan’s voice through the wood. “I brought those reports you requested…” His Beta’s voice was muffled, but I could hear the shuffling of papers on the other side of the door.
Gideon groaned. For a moment, he rested his head on the doorframe, still pressing against me.
Then he pushed away. I watched as he became all business before my eyes.
He took my arm and pulled me away from the door to open it.
“Dinner is fine..” He shoved me out into the hall and ushered Tegan in. “Tomorrow.”
And then he shut the door in my face.
Gideon’s POV
I wanted to punch Tegan in his innocent face, but manfully restrained myself.
The way Avery had been blinking up at me, so agitatedly confused, had been delightful. I shook my head to clear the thought of how she’d looked, licking her lips after I’d touched them. I hadn’t intended to but they’d just looked so soft.
It was probably for the best that my Beta had arrived, because there was a very good chance I would have done something I regretted otherwise.
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