Mr. Imperfect

chapter 61



Rori had expected Mike to argue, maybe even yell. But she hadn’t expected him to drag her to a side hall like a cave man. Certainly someone had to be noticing the fact that she was being hauled away from her own event against her will. But if anyone saw, no one was coming to her rescue.

“Let go,” she hissed, trailing after him.

“Not until I explain,” he replied. She couldn’t help but note that even though his grip was unbreakable on her, it didn’t hurt. It was a stupid thing to notice. Useless, really, and while she was processing that, she lost her last chance to send out a desperate look to anyone who might come to her aid as he pulled them into the narrow hallway and led her around the corner that would give them privacy.

Well, good. Maybe now she could tell him what she really thought of him.

“Mike, let go. Now!” Rori warned, noting there was a door in the alcove. If she couldn’t get him to leave, maybe she could just lock him in there to deal with later.

Without hesitation, Mike pushed Rori against the wall and caged her in his arms. If she moved so much as an inch she would touch him. And given how territorial she was feeling at the moment, touching would be a really bad thing.

Calm down, she told herself. Before you make a stupid decision.

The problem was, she was already making stupid decisions, like being in the alcove in the first place. How easy it would be to just kiss him until he took over? Right here, with people sipping champagne and making small talk only a few yards away. No one would miss her. Anton would take advantage of her absence to hit on that blonde he’d been eyeing since he arrived, and her mom was much better at climbing the social ladder when she didn’t have to work around Rori.

“Chloe has a boyfriend,” Mike said, breaking into her thoughts, and reminding her of the events that had led them to where they presently stood. Chloe had been fawning all over him and he hadn’t even tried to stop her.

“Really? Could have fooled me!”

“She told me if I let her get handsy with me you would get jealous, but I didn’t believe her.” He brought a hand over to caress the shape of her jaw. Rori flinched away from the touch, not that it did any good. He kept right on touching. “But here you are. Pissed off and territorial, just like she said you would be. What am I supposed to do with that, Rori?”

“I already told you what you can do with that. You can pack up and get the hell out of my life.” She wished her voice had a little more oomph to it, but had to admit that her words sounded a little less than heartfelt, even to her own ears.

Mike nodded as if that made total sense. “Yeah. I wouldn’t want to get in to way of you marrying a man you don’t love just so you can try to get your mommy and daddy to approve of you for once.”

They were standing too close for her hand to pack too much of a punch, but it was the thought that counted as her fist bounced off the muscles in his stomach even if it didn’t accomplish much.

Mike leaned in. Maybe he meant for her to feel the heat emanating from his arousal, maybe he didn’t. Either way, she felt it and her treacherous body responded. And when their eyes locked, Rori knew he could see that she was affected. Damn him.

“Rori, I may not be the man you hoped for or imagined, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t a fit.” He used his finger to tilt her chin up, making sure she looked at him as he spoke. “If I walk away from you right here, right now, I’m going to think about you the rest of my life. When I kiss another woman, I’m going to wish she was you. And I think that when you kiss Anton, some part of you is going to wish you were kissing me instead. Deny it.”

One word. One lie. That’s all it would take to stop him on his tracks. All she had to do was deny his accusation and get back to the exhibit. But instead, she looked at him feeling helpless.

“Rori, I’m pretty sure I love you,” Mike said, brushing his thumb under her bottom lip. “I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know I want to try. Whatever it takes, whatever you need to give me a shot, it’s yours. Because I’m yours.”

Who said stuff like that? Seriously. And why the hell wasn’t he kissing her? You didn’t just say something like that and then look the other person in the eye like your world revolved around them. It wasn’t fair. Not even a little. You kissed them, dammit. You let them show you what they weren’t ready to say yet. Things like, I love you so much it scares me, and, When I imagine my future children, they have your eyes.

If they didn’t kiss soon, that’s exactly what Rori would say, so she decided to go in on her own. Rising up on to her toes, she caught his lips with hers in a kiss both hard and possessive. As a rule Rori tried to keep her kisses seductive and stimulating, but this time she just did what felt right, unbuttoning his shirt so she could put her hands on some skin.

Take him, a voice in her head commanded when he raised her off the ground. Without hesitation Rori wrapped her legs around his waist and gave a sigh of what sounded like relief when he pressed his arousal to hers.

Thank God, Rori thought as she sucked his tongue into her mouth symbolically. The immediate tension that filled his body brought the first honest smile of the day to Rori’s face.

Mike wanted her. Not just anyone. Her. She could feel it in his touch, see it in the focus on his gaze, and the’ knowledge was intoxicating. And seeing his need fanned the flames of her own need. Maybe some other time she would have the state of mind to slow things down and proceed with a little more finesse, but for the moment she brought her legs higher up on Mike’s hips and moved her hips against him as she finished unbuttoning his shirt.

“Rori,” he panted, pressing them flush together. “I—please?”

She understood him, because she was thinking the exact same thing. “God help me Mike, but I need you. Right here. Right now.”

That lit a fire under him, but rather than putting his hands on her or adjusting her so he could undo his pants, Mike’s focus seemed to be on reaching into his front pocket.

“Key,” he muttered against her mouth. “I need that damn key.”

Key? Rori wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but if it was a key to the door to the side of them, then she could get in on that hunt. “Do you need me to get down?”

He shook his head, using his hard length to deliver a stroke where she would feel it most. “Nope. I’m happy right where I am.” He moved in to deliver a gentle kiss, and Rori noted with pride that his lips were more than a little swollen.

She’d done that. She smiled, letting her head fall back against the wall as his mouth found her neck.

“Again,” she commanded, pressing her hips against his.

He thrust again, shifting the angle to test her reaction.

“Rori?”

“Yeah?”

His hands came up and framed her face, his hips still moving against her. “If you think I’m going to quietly walk away after this, you’re insane.”

Before Rori could answer, Mike was pulling her away from the wall and unzipping her dress. She should have been horrified that she was on the cusp of having sex ten feet from a full art gallery, but instead she was unwrapping her legs from Mike’s waist so her dress could fall to the floor while she made quick work of his belt.

“You are stunning,” he said, as she undid the top of his pants with a flick of her wrist.

Rori planted a quick kiss on his mouth. “Look later. Touch now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and she saw his hand slide into his pocket and come out with a silver key.

“Does that key go where I think it goes?”

He nodded, stopping her hands from undoing his zipper as he gave her one of his looks that made her feel like he was looking past her body and into her soul.

“Rori, if we use this key, it means two things. First off, it means that Chloe wins a bet between all the employees here about whether or not we will hook up. And since Chloe really wants a new pair of shoes, she made a show out of getting me this key here.”

For some reason that amused Rori. “Sounds fair,” she said, slipping her hand out of his grip and making quick work of his zipper.

“Second,” he added, stilling her hand again, but not moving it away. “We do this and it means you’re giving me a shot. It means you send Anton packing, and tonight you’re with me. And tomorrow, you’re with me. And you stay with me until I give you an excuse not to—until I’m an ass, or I break your trust, or I stop giving you reasons to love me. That’s what’s on the table right now. Don’t let me into your body if you’re not going to let me into your life, because I love you too much to separate the two. I need both. All or nothing. That’s the deal.”

It was beyond her how Mike could stand there and say words like that when she could literally feel his pulse through his jeans. But he was right. This was all or nothing, because Rori couldn’t separate the act from the emotion either. Not this time. Probably not ever again.

“I need you,” she replied, pressing her forehead to his and locking eyes with him. “Everything makes sense with you. Everything feels right. I love you, Mike, but I’m pretty sure I need you more.”

She kissed him then. Not a lusty kiss, but a gentle one that let him know she had control. She could stop if she wanted to. She just didn’t want to. He looked a little shell shocked when she pulled away.

“And Anton?” he asked

“Gone,” she said simply, earning the most brilliant smile she’d ever seen from him.

She was going to have kids with smiles like that. She knew it, even if she didn’t dare say it just yet.

“Now how about we break every rule there is for hosting a party and use that key?” she said instead, running her hands through the fine hair of his chest and down past his stomach before hooking a finger teasingly into the waistband of his boxer briefs. “Chloe needs a new pair of shoes.”

Mike didn’t respond—not with words—which she silently thanked him for. Rori much preferred the his mouth on hers, one hand holding her close while the other fought to fit the key into its lock.

Rori should have been terrified. Once she came back out of that room, nothing was going to be the same for her. Ever. Mike was going to change everything. Her parents would never approve of Mike, and their differences would make for a very messy relationship. But if there was one thing Rori knew about Mike, it was that he didn’t mind hard work and a bit of clean up.

As her back hit the wall at the back of the storage closet and Mike filled her, Rori knew something else for certain. No other man would feel right ever again.

God help her, but she belonged to Mike Cannon. And belonging had never felt so good.