The bottle slipped from her fingers, landing with a soft thud on the counter. Her heart lurched into her throat as she spun around, eyes wide.
Leo.
He stood in the doorway of her kitchen, casually leaning against the frame, a small, knowing smile tugging at his lips. His dark eyes were locked on her, that same predatory look she'd seen before, as if he enjoyed watching her squirm.
"Jesus Christ, Leo!" she gasped, clutching the counter to steady herself. Her pulse was racing, the sudden rush of adrenaline making her lightheaded. "You really have to stop doing that. What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, his eyes swept over the room, taking in every detail, as if he owned the place. He stepped forward, his gaze returning to her, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"So many questions. I have my ways," he said smoothly, walking further into the kitchen. "You look like you've been busy."
She stared at him, her heart still pounding in her chest. She should have known that he was going to do something like this when she agreed to let him drive her home. A man like Leo didn't have the word 'boundaries' in his vocabulary. "You can't just break into my house, Leo." Susan told him.
Leo raised an eyebrow, clearly unbothered by her accusation. "I didn't break in. Let's just say I had access." He smiled, a slow, dangerous curve of his lips. "Besides, I wanted to check in on you. You should really lock your front door immediately when you come into the house, Suzy. You never know what or who could be watching."
The bastard! "You didn't use the front door, but I agree," Susan said, "You never can tell. So many assholes running around… You can never be too careful,"
Leo didn't look offended by her insult. Instead he grinned. "That's what I get for checking in on you?" He asked, feigning innocence, "Damn, and you call me the bad guy,"
"Check in on me?" Susan repeated, her voice shaking.
"Yeah. When a partner doesn't show up, I get concerned. Especially when said partner is… Well, you,"
Since when did they become partners? Susan decided to ignore that, "You've been gone for two weeks. I thought—"
"You thought I was done with you?" He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "We both know that's not how this works, Suzy. You don't call the shots. I do."
Susan's stomach twisted. She couldn't ignore the way his presence filled the room, how he seemed to suck all the air out of it. She hated how her body reacted to him, how even now, standing across from him, that familiar pull was still there. Apparently two weeks wasn't enough to wipe away memories of that kiss. It was bad when all she felt towards him was this annoying attraction, but now that she'd kissed him, and knew what it felt like to be kissed by him, her body wouldn't stop responding to him.
"I told you I'm done. I don't want anything to do with this anymore." She tried to keep her voice steady, but it wavered with uncertainty.
Leo tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. He didn't look like he believed her. "You don't get to decide that."
Her chest tightened. She should have known. He was never going to let her go, no matter how much she wished for it. This was the price of getting involved with someone like him.
Leo stepped closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "Your brother still owes me. And you…" His voice lowered as he stood directly in front of her, letting his eyes run over her body, and he made no attempt to shield his thoughts from her. It was right there in his eyes, and she could read them very clearly. "...You don't get to turn your back on me."
Her breath hitched in her throat. She couldn't move, couldn't think. He was too close, too overwhelming, and no matter how much she wanted to hate him, part of her couldn't help but be drawn to him.
"We're not done, Susan," Leo continued, his voice soft yet commanding. "Not by a long shot. You know too much… Way more than you should… and no one is allowed to just quit. You wanted in…You can't just want out. You will do what I say, and I say you're not done,"
"How dare you!" Susan gasped, and attempted to move. To at least put some distance between them so she could think straight, but Leo was faster. He grabbed her arm to keep her in place, stopping her movement.
"How dare I?" He raised dark brows, his mouth thinning angrily. "The thing with you is that you like to act like you're this innocent person who does no wrong, but you can be pretty devious when you choose to be. Not that I'm complaining, Suzy. I like that about you. The drive that took us all of an hour and thirty minutes that night took me a mere forty minutes this evening. Of course I knew that at the time, but I thought I'd let you have your little bit of fun —"
He'd known what she was doing the entire time that night? Susan gasped. How embarrassing. He wasn't just an asshole. He was worse… He was… He was…. Okay, so she couldn't find a word at the moment, but he was something. "You—"
"Don't add obscene language to your list of faults," he bit out caustically. "You were enjoying yourself," he shrugged. "And so I thought, what the hell? Do you really think I'd let you wash those bills for me if I didn't already know exactly where to find you?" He looked at her disgustedly. "Your acting before you got out of my car was superb too,"
"I didn't act?" she repeated incredulously as he finally addressed the kiss. "You were the one who kissed me," she hissed, although she knew her cheeks were probably pink as hell at the moment.
"And you kissed me right back!"
A guilty flush darkened her cheeks even more at the truth of that. "You took me by surprise—"
"For ten minutes!" he derided harshly.
"Leo please," she looked away awkwardly. He was so close the warmth of his breath stirred the feathered fringe above her eyes, "I'm not proud of what happened that night, but I—I'll learn to live with it."
"Why?" His eyes were narrowed to slits.
"Because I did respond to you," she acknowledged gruffly. "And I shouldn't have done."
"Why is that?" Leo asked her. He shouldn't care what this woman felt, or if she regretted kissing him, but he couldn't stop himself. He wasn't a womanizer, but women he went out with didn't usually end up regretting it. In fact they almost always came back for more. Okay, so he didn't exactly go out with Susan, but he was drawn to her in a way he didn't quite understand. If he was being honest with himself, the money her brother owed him didn't mean that much to him.
The truth was that he was intrigued by her and that debt was the only thing keeping her in his life right now. All he knew was that he wanted to keep her in his life, and the way he knew how to do that was by holding onto that debt. She was beautiful, and sexy… And he wanted her.