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grazed her lower lip again and she heard herself shamelessly
sigh into it, her hand grabbing his hip.
    She
felt his desire pressing hard against her, insistent and exciting.
She felt her own desire building, reaching a point where it felt less
like want and more like need. Like her lungs needed breath. Like her
stomach needed food. She needed him.
    Every
ounce of her wanted him to push her rough against the tree and take
her right then and there. In broad daylight. Where anyone could
happen upon the scene. All she knew was her body felt taut as a bow,
so tense that the only thing she could think about was ripping off
his clothes and getting what she needed.
    It
no longer mattered that she swore she wasn't attracted to him, that
he was trying to take her business from her, that she swore to put
him in his place.
    All
that mattered was the aching desire between her thighs.
    Then,
he pulled away.
    She
had a horrifying second of feeling unsteady on her feet as she slowly
started to open her eyes. James was looking down at her, his dark
blue eyes deep an unfathomable. Her heart was beating frantically in
her chest and she took a small amount of satisfaction in the fact
that his heartbeat matched hers. But she only felt it for a moment
before he leaned slightly backward.
    His
arm moved upward, pulling the shiny red apple to his lips. His eyes
stayed on hers as he slowly bit into the ripe flesh. His hand pulled
away, his lips wet with the fresh juice. He chewed for a second
before smiling, stepping back, and walking away.
    A
part of her wanted to be offended. She was the one who should walk
away. But in all honesty, she needed the space to breathe and she
wasn't positive her legs would carry her. She leaned back against the
tree, taking a deep breath, wiping a hand over her kiss swollen lips.
    Yeah,
he could be the one to walk away. Just this one time.
    She
pushed off the tree and turned to find him standing a few yards away,
facing her. She could see even though the distance, a huge, obnoxious
grin on his face.
    “I'd
say that's point one for me, wouldn't you?” he said, turning
and walking away.
    Emily
stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Too angry to move. Her hands
opened and closed in fists over and over.
    Oh,
it was on.

Five

    She
was regretting agreeing to go to the Halloween festivities. After the
kiss and the silent drive home: James in smug quiet, Emily in angry
muteness, she felt worn out and frazzled. She had done everything in
her power to stay out of his way the rest of the night. She did
paperwork in the office, conning Devon to pull a double shift, and
making Meggie bring her dinner to the staff quarters. Not that they
were exactly off limits to him anyway. But at least it lessened the
chances of running into him. Until she sorted everything out anyway.
    But
after a night of restless sleep, she was feeling even less sure of
herself than she had been when she went to bed. How was she supposed
to recover from that epic screw up? What kind of idiot made out with
someone who was, at least for the time being, her sworn enemy? The
guy was taking over her life's work. He was taking all her power
away. And she had just gone and... melted into him when he kissed
her. She should have pushed him away, slapped him, said something
snarky afterward.
    No,
she had to go full-on middle school first kiss on him. Shaky legs and
dreamy eyes. Jesus Christ. She was a grown woman. Who had kissed more
than her fair share of men. Hers was not an appropriate response to a
stupid kiss in a stupid apple orchard.
    Emily
buried her face in her hands for a long moment, sitting on the foot
of her bed, hours before she even needed to be awake.
    How
was she supposed to recover from such an epic fuck up?
    And
on top of that, how was she going to get herself into the kind of
mood she would need to take a haunted maze and then attend the annual
Halloween dance?
    Emily
got up off the bed, going into the bathroom and turning the shower
water on cold.