Margot
I’ve known it from the moment I first laid eyes on Boone Masters.
It was always going to be him.
You recover quicker than you think you will.
Sure, my lungs burned for a few days after Boone pulled me from my burning sorority house just moments before it collapsed entirely.
But I’m young—and I’m in college. Ultimately, it was on par with a nasty hangover, the kind you get when you go to a frat party and the boys all decide to light up cigars.
I drank some water.
I let the nurses in the hospital fuss over me for a few days.
I took a shower and washed the last of the soot and ash and smoke from my hair.
After that, the next order of business seemed pretty obvious.
Boone Masters saved my life that night. And with graduation over, I know he’ll be gone in a few days...maybe for good.
I might have grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I wasn’t raised to be ungrateful.
Boone and I come from the same world. So, what do you get someone who has everything?
For his going-away present, Boone gave me my life.
There’s not much that I can give him to match that...but in my defense, at least my thank-you gift is one-of-a-kind.
When he answers the door, he’s in a pair of sweatpants. That’s it. Nothing else.
“Hey...Margot,” he says, blinking in surprise.
Overhead, the moon shines bright. Busy cars zip by on the street outside as our fellow students head home for the summer. The rain on the road reflects the cars’ headlights.
“Hey, Boone. Can I come in?”
“Ah...” He casts a glance over his shoulder to the interior of his apartment.
Most of his things are boxed up behind him. He’s ready to move out in the morning.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I don’t mind.”
Boone shrugs and shifts his massive, broad shoulders aside so I can enter.
“It’s a mess,” he admits. “But if you don’t mind...”
I could care less—but I hope he hasn’t packed up his bed yet.
“I’m not bothering you, am I?” I ask, watching the way he moves.
It’s like he’s afraid to get too close to me—like he’s afraid of what he might do if that happens.
We do this silly little dance around each other, like planets trapped in each other’s orbits. Boone keeps his space a few paces away from me, no matter how hard I try to move closer.
“You’re not,” he reassures me. “It’s just...You know how it is, Margot. Your parents don’t want me anywhere near you—even less since—”
“Since you saved my life?”
I finally have him where I want him, with his back against the wall.
Nowhere to run now, Boone.
“Look, I don’t care what my parents want. You saved my life that night, Boone. I’m here because I want to say thank you.”
Boone’s eyes narrow as I take a step closer.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” he admits. “It’s how you plan on doing it that worries me.”
I come up to him and raise my hand to his chest. Boone’s chest hair is incredible—thick, dark, and all over his gorgeous pecs. I stop half an inch from actually touching him, with his chest hair tickling my palm.
“Don’t you want it?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “It’s a very heartfelt thank you.”
“Oh, I want it,” Boone says with a ragged laugh. “But wanting something and having it show up on your doorstep at midnight are two entirely different things. Especially wearing something like that.”
I look down at my white t-shirt with the university’s logo printed on it and my Daisy Dukes.
Okay, I can admit it—I look hot. But it’s not like I showed up in a trench coat and lingerie for crying out loud.
Although admittedly, that was Plan B.
As Boone pores over my body, taking in my curves beneath the clothes, I shrug and take the hem of my t-shirt in my hands.
“If you don’t like what I’m wearing...” I pull the shirt up over my head, revealing a lacy pink bra beneath. “I can take care of that.”
“Margot—”
“Boone,” I warn him. “Cut the crap. Don’t pretend that you haven’t been dreaming about this moment since the moment you first laid eyes on me.”
I grab his wrist and turn his palm over in my hand. His hands are huge and heavy—it takes both of mine just to hold one of his. I see the way his fingers twitch as I pull his hand closer to me—like he’s trying desperately not to act on something that he desperately wants to.
“I’m not pretending,” he growls.
I see something dark flash through his eyes as I tug his hand closer.
“Then do something about it.”
“Your parents...”
“My parents don’t like you because they don’t like your parents, Boone. It’s stupid. It’s pointless. It’s an ancient feud that has nothing to do with us...and it has cost us too much time already. I want this. You want this.”
I place his hand on my stomach. His palm is burning hot against my skin, like there’s a fire roaring within Boone that radiates red hot heat.
When his skin meets mine, a low, dark growl emanates from deep in Boone’s throat.
“You’re playing with fire, Margot.”
“Good thing I’m in the presence of the world’s greatest firefighter.”
“You shouldn’t make me touch you like this.”
“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?”
In an instant, Boone’s hand is removed from my stomach and pressing against the small of my back instead. He pulls me against him, hard and fast.
In such close proximity, I realize exactly how small I am compared to his massive physique.
He takes my jaw in his other hand, turning my face upward.
With a purr of hunger, he stoops to kiss me.
It’s a kiss that I never want to end.
“I leave tomorrow,” he warns me, pulling away from my lips like he’s giving up breathing. “Wall Street.”
“I know,” I admit. “I’m leaving, too. Transferring schools. My parents want me on the west coast.”
“As far away from me as possible, huh?”
“Something like that. But tonight...”
Boone kisses me again, and there’s something even more intense in his touch. I move against his body, relishing his everything.
The hardness of his chest. The thickness of his hair. His lips, so hot and brutally tender.
His scent—like leather and smoke.
His cock, pressing demandingly against my belly in a way that makes me want to beg him to take me with him.
Given the opportunity...I could make this man my entire fucking world.
“We only have tonight, then,” Boone says with a sad little shake of his head. “Margot...you deserve more than just one night.”
“So do you,” I tell him.
When I look into his eyes, I see the pain there. He’s hurting—and I know he’s hurting for me.
“But if tonight is all we have...Boone, when it comes to you, I can’t live with a what if.”
As he picks me up and carries me to his bed the same way he carried me out of that burning building, I know we’re making the right choice.
One night together.
If that’s all we can have, then this is the way it has to be.