Keeping His Word
Anastasia had turned a bright shade of red, and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. The man
who stood in the room with her was so suave that he was basically a walking tower of testosterone.
Just as she tried to recollect her thoughts, Elliot suddenly reached out and drew her close with one
arm. She gasped when he suddenly leaned forward and dipped his head, and his lips were but inches
away from hers.
She blushed furiously as the air around her grew warm and became engulfed with his scent, which had
a familiar tinge of peppermint to it. She blinked and realized that Elliot’s skin still looked flawless from
up close.
For some reason, this goodbye kiss was becoming too hot-and-heavy for comfort. More importantly, he
was gazing down at her with nothing but endearment, which made her heart beat so fast that it could fly
out of her chest.
She looked away nervously, and though she tried to back away from him, his arm was so tightly wound
around her waist that she could not budge. She could only cling to his muscular arm and his broad
shoulder, using them as her pivot as she tried to break free.
“Three!” Elliot started counting in a voice that sounded like a low, dangerous growl.
She gaped at him incredulously. Wait! He said five seconds! How did it become three all of a sudden?
This guy’s trying to weasel his way out of the deal!
However, she couldn’t let her anger settle; when she was about to accuse him of cheating, he parted
his lips and said, “Two!”
This sent panic coursing through her. In a fit of desperation, she reached out her delicate hands and
cupped his face. Then, she closed her eyes as she leaned forward to kiss him on his perfectly-carved
lips. It’s just a kiss. What’s the big deal—
“Mmph!” Anastasia’s eyes widened when she realized that Elliot’s ferocity was probed.
He was kissing her back aggressively, seeming as though he wanted to pack all his pent-up feelings
into this one kiss. At that moment, he was no longer the cool and reserved president of a company; he
was a man who had relinquished all his self-control just to pour his love out for her.
He had abandoned his calm reasoning in favor of heated recklessness. He wanted to show his true self
and bare his soul to her.
On the other hand, Anastasia was startled by how hungrily he kissed her that she instinctively tried to
push him away. However, he did not release her, and as he demanded more of her, she found herself
starting to cave into the kiss. She was losing herself, and the air was thick with electrifying tension.
Just then, the tenant upstairs moved what sounded like a heavy object, and two muffled thuds were all
it took for Anastasia to snap out of her reverie. She summoned all the strength she had and pushed
Elliot away before he got the better of her. He was a little confused by her sudden rejection at first, but
he quickly broke into a grin as he said, “I’m very much satisfied.”
It was by sheer force of will that she managed to keep her heart from leaping out of her ribcage as she
said calmly, “You may leave now.”
Elliot stared at her. She was so beautiful under the lights that he felt he could stay there and look at her
forever.
A bad feeling rose in her when she met his burning gaze. Why is he still looking at me like that when
he’s supposed to leave? “Are you considering going back on your word?” She was furious now. She
could hardly believe that he would refuse to hold up his end of the deal after what she had just done.
He raised a brow. “Of course not. I’ll get going now. Call me if you miss me.” Then, he suddenly thought
of something and asked in a confrontational tone, “You’re not planning to carpool with that programmer
punk to work, are you?”
She was at a loss for words. She didn’t think it had anything to do with him whether she carpooled with
anyone or not.
Before she could say anything, a frosty look flashed in his eyes as he ordered imperiously, “You are not
allowed to have any man other than myself in the passenger seat of your car, Anastasia.”
She nearly burst out laughing, but she kept a straight face as she drawled sarcastically, “Is that so? I
should probably have all the men in the company line up to take a ride in the passenger seat of my car.
What are you going to do about that? Fire all of them?”
Elliot was stumped by this for a few seconds, but when he thought about how he had given the
programmer a stern warning earlier that evening, he figured that the man would know better than to try
his luck with Anastasia.
This was the first time Anastasia had ever encountered anyone so outrageously demanding and
controlling. It was as if he wouldn’t be happy until he could pick out all the molecules in the air and
force her to only breathe in the ones he deemed fit. Perhaps he should try getting global warming
under control and do everyone a great service!
“I’m leaving now,” he said as he gave her a long, hard look. After that, he grabbed his keys off the table
and left without putting up a fight.
Anastasia was skeptical as she watched him leave, and she wondered if this truly marked the end of
his constant presence in her and Jared’s private life. She began to question if he really would hold up
his end of the deal, and she found herself hoping that that would be the case.
As she lay in bed that night, sleep evaded her once again. She couldn’t stop replaying the scene of the
kiss from earlier, and there was no shaking it off no matter how many times she had tossed and turned
in bed. She was starting to think that Elliot had cast some kind of spell on her.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda