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other reason.
    If she could convince herself of that, she could convince anyone.
    But for the moment, she couldn ' t get her vocal chords to work because Gibson was hanging over her, threatening her with his size and the disdain in his voice.
    " Answer me. " His words were harsh, demanding.
    " D-did you ask me a question? " Her body was shaking so hard she could barely control it.
    " I said it ' s not going to work . " Gibson deliberately tried to intimidate her. He needed to scare her enough to alienate her, make her want to stay out of his radius. It was one of the hardest things he ' d ever done. She was incredibly sexy, one of the sexiest women he ' d ever met. But Ryan had asked him to stay away from her, and being the stand up friend that he was, he was going to try his damndest. And now she was standing in the circle of his arms, inches away from him, and her body was shaking with a sexual need that was about to make him snap.
    " What are -- what are you t-talking about? " She looked around the deserted corridor. There was nobody around to interrupt the heated exchange. They were virtually alone.
    " I ' m talking about you chasing me. It ' s not going to work. You need to stop it. " His voice dripped frustration and anger.
    " You ' re c-crazy. I ' m not chasing you. " Julie was appalled she had been so obvious. How and when had she been so obvious? Would he believe her if she denied it? She hadn ' t thought she ' d done a single thing to let him know how she felt about him. It was embarrassing he ' d figured it out and it mortified her. She stiffened her spine.
    " Bullshit. " His eyes ran down her face, across her lips and dropped to her chest heaving in agitation. " How old are you, anyway? "
    " Twenty-one, not that it ' s any of your business. " She tried to keep her voice even, but she had so many emotions running through her. She was excited to be so close to him, but she was beginning to get mad at his attitude. There was no reason he should be talking to her in that tone of voice. Even if he knew she had it bad for him that was all the more reason he should be nice about it. Not act like she had committed a huge sin.
    " Bullshit. You ' re not twenty-one. " He pushed the words out between gritted teeth.
    " How do you think I got in here? Magic? " Her voice was sarcastic, cutting, giving back to him what he was dishing out to her.
    " Smart-ass . You ' re a little, blonde smart-ass and if you think something ' s going to happen between us, you ' re insane. "
    " You ' re the ass. Let me go . " Now she was just as pissed as he was and beginning to question her own judgment. Yeah, he was seriously hot, but crap, who knew he was such a dick?
    " I ' m not holding you, " he taunted her.
    Julie realized he was in fact, correct. He didn ' t touch her at all. His body hung over her, caging her in, but he wasn ' t actually touching her. She didn ' t stand still for any more of his shit. She began to duck under his arm but he reached out and stopped her and swung her back into her original position again.
    Only this time, he was holding her.
    Her back came against the wall and he crowded into her space. His eyes were liquid, staring into hers. His hands gripped her tightly.
    Shock and intense excitement hit her when she pushed against him and he wouldn ' t let her go. Surely this was more than anger. He had to be feeling something more than just anger . Maybe she hadn ' t been wrong when she pictured how it would be between them. She ' d daydreamed about it often enough.
    She tested the strength of his grip by trying to move away from him again.
    " Stay still. " His words were brutal. He stared at her, his nostrils flaring and his lips snarling.
    His hands gripped her upper arms and he watched her intently.
    " Make up your mind. " She looked up at him through her lashes, trying to maneuver away from him a few desperately needed inches. Inches that were needed for her sanity .
    His fists gripped tighter around her. " Stay still,