Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter 113

It was impossible to think clearly when he was so close.

Willow tried hard to focus on the matter at hand, but with him standing so close, his warm and intoxicating breath grazing across her face ever so gently, as if coaxing her to lose herself in the depths of his dark eyes and melt her body with his, the task kept on growing harder and harder.

Perhaps if he would take a step back, she would scold herself to laser focus on what he was saying. But even forcing the words out to tell him that she needed a little space before she remembered to talk again was proving to be an arduous task in its own.

Willow pursed her lips and splayed her fingers behind her against the tree. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself grounded and not do something stupid.

"What is it now?" he asked in his name delicious voice, dark eyes searching for her own. "Cat got your tongue?"

She swallowed. If only she could tell him how wrong he was.

She shook her head, finally summoning the strength to look away, and ignoring the way the warmth of his body zapped through her own. "No. Not really."

But as if he sensed her struggle, he grabbed her jaw with his two fingers and brought her gaze back to him. "I prefer these eyes on me."

"Why?" she asked, unable to help herself, and before she could realize what had left her mouth. Not that she regretted it. Like most of her impulsive reactions, she believed her question was valid.

"They tend to tell the truth," his gaze flickered to her mouth, before one of the fingers he used to hold her chin traced her swollen lips. "...when the lips decide to lie."

"You think I'm about to lie?"

"I know something's cooking in that head of yours, and it's not the truth."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because it's my job to be sure. I wouldn't be who I am if I couldn't get a read on a person as well as I do. But enough with your curiosity about what I can and cannot do. Tell me the truth, and tell me now."

Willow noticed the way his eyes never returned to her eyes. It was as if he was mesmerized himself. She wondered if she had the same magnetic effect on him as he did on hers. She wondered if he was attracted to her like he was in their previous reality. She wondered if there was still some hope...

"It's useless to tell the truth. You're never going to believe me."

"Try me." Finally, he peeled his gaze away from her mouth and gazed into her eyes.

Willow felt another shudder pass through her spine, and her breathing grew a tad erratic, overwhelmed by so much of him. With a strength that almost felt unearthly, she lifted her hand and placed it on top of his chest, giving him a gentle push. She loved the hardness she felt beneath her fingertips, the way something vibrated at the back of his throat at the mere touch.

"Why do you even care?"

A slight disappointment slashed across his face, but he recovered from it rather quickly. "I made that very clear already."

Yes, he did. She was a mystery to him. And Dan loved a good mystery. Who wouldn't?

"Maybe some other time." When he backed away a little, perhaps realizing being so close to her was equally distracting for both of them, she pushed herself away from the tree and tried to walk past him.

Not that he let her.

He grabbed her arm and brought her back against the tree. "The truth. Now."

Willow didn't like the way he was growing so forceful in his attempts to get the truth. She liked him, sure, but she wasn't some object he could toss around at his will. And she could see he needed to get that in his skull. Sooner, the better.