I've been jumpy.

It's been two days since my interaction with Rogue, and I swear, all the interaction had done was make it larger than life, invading my thoughts and sending me into a panic mode. He didn't make a threat. He made a promise. A promise of invasion. He promised to be my shadow. I didn't take it lightly. I might not know who he was, but I knew what he was capable of.

I wanted to forget. It was so hard to forget something like that. All this time I thought he hadn't reached out to me because we had said our goodbyes and there was no need to see each other again, but I was wrong. He hadn't forgotten about me. He was giving me three months of peace before he would wreak havoc.

Tuesday was starting to look chaotic. Even though I wasn't on the Sinclair and Mogue's project, Robert had to make sure I was at the final meeting. After months, both companies were ready to launch their collaboration. What was left was how to plan for the photoshoot and runway for the lingerie line, which, in my opinion, were the best lingerie line I had ever seen. I wanted to wear it. It was sexy and unique. The team that handled the project did better than I would have, to be honest.

"What are your plans for tonight? Are you seeing West?"

It took me a moment to register the questions were for me. We were in the boardroom along with a few others, waiting for the meeting to start as we went over the new concepts we had, comparing them with the old ones.

I glanced up at Hanna. It had been two days since my date with West, and we haven't had time for another one. "No, but I have a date with my tv." Everyone was engrossed in their work. It was just the two of us talking.

Hanna stared at me with a grin. "Is this your way of inviting me over?"

"You can come, but we won't watch your shitty movies. Never again." I glanced away briefly to catch the remaining discussion in the boardroom. I was scared for her to come to my flat, mainly because I had no idea when Rogue might drop by. Anything was possible for him. It made me fall asleep with the thoughts that tormented me.

I didn't want her to know something was going on between us. To her, I had never spoken to him. For Hanna to know that I knew Rogue and had kissed him, lived with him, and dreamt about him when I knew what he was, it would sound chaotic. I wouldn't have an explanation for her questions.

"You act like you suffer through them but secretly, you enjoy them."

I snorted.

"Maybe we should get drinks?" she suggested. "Invite a few girls?"

"I don't have anyone to invite. They're all your friends." Strangely enough, making a lot of friends hadn't been on my mind ever since I started to live here.

"Maybe this is the time to make new friends? You only have me as a friend."

"I have Fallon, and Erica qualifies as a friend," I countered, running a hand over my hair.

Hanna scoffed, staring at me with a look of complete and utter amusement. "You're Fallon's support group and Erica is a co-worker. You don't even ask her out, and she's probably dying for you to do so, but you don't want to make friends."

"It's not like I don't want to make friends..."

"Then, what is it?"

"Your friends intimidate me."

She gave me a disbelief look. "You? Be intimidated? I saw you almost punch a guy who was thrice your size and had the muscles. You faced Fallon's mum, and just to prove a point, you went out of your way to call out our biggest and dickest client—"

I interrupted with a grin. "Dickest isn't a word." But that all happened, and a lot more. I wouldn't really say her friends intimidated me; it was more like I didn't vibe with anyone except her. Her friends were all rich and snobby, kind of like the women Lauren and I loved to troll. The only one I would say I was totally cool with was Annie.

Her hand waved in my face. "Whatever, but my point still stands." She chewed at her pen. "You aren't intimidated by anyone."

"That's what I thought too until I met that psycho," I muttered to myself. He was probably the most intimidating man I had ever met. There was a level of how intimidating Rogue was. Intimidating and very scary. With a sigh, I added with, "West is also my friend."

"West is your fuck buddy."

"He can't be my fuck buddy when we haven't even fucked yet."

She laughed, and a few others looked toward us before they resumed their discussion. "Which reminds me..." She poked my side, curiosity written all over her face. "Why haven't you both tear each other's clothes off? What's stopping you?"

"We haven't kissed properly, and I don't know why," I told her, my phone buzzing with a new reminder. "I'm not going to make the first move and come off as desperate."

If West didn't want anything to happen between us, I didn't want to be the one to ruin things, but it was weird. I knew he wanted me. He said so himself, so what changed? Did he saw me with Rogue? No, he couldn't have. The door had been locked. Then he must have seen him walking out of the restroom when I was inside. If that was the case, I would have seen a change in him. Maybe he fooled me into thinking he didn't know anything happened. Was that it? Argh.

Hanna gasped, tapping on my shoulder three times. "Wait, wait, does he not find your attractive?" She seemed genuinely shocked. "Weird. Anyone who looks at you knows you're a banger."

"Right?"

"Is he gay?"

I laughed. "Doesn't give the vibe. Anyway, it's not like I won't survive without the sex."

"No, no," she muttered with a shake of her head. "You need to show him you want to. Maybe he got a vibe from you, and that's why he hasn't made any move yet."

I frowned. "What, like he's intimidated by me?"

Her arms crossed. "It may come as a surprise to you, Beth, but you can look a little intimidating and aggressive."

"Shut up."

"Just make the first move. You have nothing to lose. Maybe he's waiting for you to—being a gentleman and all. He wants to do right and not chase you off."

Surveying her, I had the look of playful disgust when I said, "You're so invested in my love life it's actually concerning. Maybe you should get a boyfriend too. I heard Terrance from HR has a thing for you."

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "That one is a boy. Moi likes big boys with big dicks and muscles. Rip me into two kinds of men, not those who will turn me into a soft petal."

A loud noise left my mouth, sounding like a peal of choked laughter. "You're disgusting."

Just then, Robert announced his presence by walking into the boardroom, followed by two Mogue's employees, one of them being Sabrina Young, and the other, a tall man. Right behind them, Rogue stepped in with powerful strides in his black suit and tie, his gaze burning through everything in the boardroom. My eyes widened so largely, and I almost slipped off the chair in shock.

My heart lurched. My stomach dropped. I tried to catch a breath, but couldn't. His gaze seemed to find me in a room of nine people. It was like being hit with a spotlight and everything was just so blinding.

What the fuck was he doing here?

Oh, did you have to ask?

I looked away immediately, pressing my hands so tightly to stop the shakes. Hanna was saying something to me, but I couldn't hear her. I touched my forehand, realizing there was a spot of sweat there. I wanted to leave. I had to leave. So, I got up instantly. It couldn't have been the worst thing to do because all eyes were suddenly on me. Even the culprit.

"Beth, is everything alright?" Robert asked.

I opened my mouth and closed it, willing myself to be honest, but I found myself suddenly nodding. "Y...yes, I'm fine. Please, carry on." I sat back down, rather than run for the exit.

Satisfied with my answer, Robert looked away from me. I darted my gaze to Rogue, whom I realized was staring right back at me. My hands shook. I forgot how to breathe. Despite how calm he seemed, there was a storm in his eyes. Panic erupted in my heart all over again, but I pushed it down and glared at him. His smile widened.

"Mr. Slade had decided to grace us with his presence today," Robert was saying, shinning his teeth at Rogue like he had seen a gold mine, admiring him without having any shame. "He wanted to be at the last meeting and offered an assistant if we need it. Of course, I think we're all excited to hear his input."

I rolled my eyes.

Rogue cleared his throat, sucking away all the oxygen in the room. He carried himself with confidence, his shoulders broad and powerful. "Thank you, Robert, and thank you everyone here for a job well done. I have seen it all, and I would say you have an exceptional team."

Robert chuckled in delight at the compliment from his idol. "Sinclair only employs the best," he said, agreeing with him. "I like having the best of the best."

"So do I," Rogue added, this time around, his gaze was solely on me. My blood went ice cold. His words terrified me, but he hypnotized me at the same time. Then, he looked at Robert. "Who is leading the team?"

"That would be me, Mr. Slade," Erica spoke up with a wave of her hand. My lips twisted at the way she was staring at him, like a secondary school girl with her first crush. She was batting her lashes at him and tucking her hair behind her ears. "Erica Moises," she introduced. "We've met before. You liked my bow."

Another chance to roll my eyes.

"Ah, yes," he responded pleasantly. "I remember you, Ms. Moises. It's nice to see you again. And were you handling the project from the start?"

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "That would be Beth, Mr. Slade, Beth Wallace." She pointed her thumb at me. The asshole looked in my way.

"Ms. Wallace."

I almost wanted to ignore him, but my boss was present, and I couldn't do that. Looking at Rogue, whose lips were curled over perfect, gleaming white teeth, I asked, "Yes?"

"Is there a reason why you're not part of this project anymore?" he asked the simplest question. I didn't even know what he was trying to do. He had to know the reason. He was testing me, trying to see what I would say, but we both already knew I wasn't going to say the truth.

"I wasn't in the right state of mind, Mr. Slade. I didn't think I would be able to give my all to the project, but Erica was the perfect replacement. She did a better job than I would have."

Rogue didn't say anything next. He just watched me, unnerving me like he always did. His eyes bore into mine, emitting a thousand shades of annoyance and anger. He didn't like what I said. It was evident in his striking eyes.

"Is that what you do?" His voice grew eerily, colder, and I wasn't the only one who noticed. "Give up things? Pass them onto someone else so easily like they mean nothing to you?"

My mouth opened and closed. His gaze cut right through me.

Robert cleared his throat with a light chuckle to ease the brewing tension, leaning closer to Rogue. "I think what Beth meant was—" The rest of his sentence never made it out of his mouth when Rogue raised a hand to stop him from saying anything further.

What was his deal? He was so gruff, so pissed off—as if I had done something to annoy him. It was his fault he felt that way. It was his own fault that I had to give up on the project. He had no right to be mad or accuse me of being a quitter.

I allowed myself to look away for a few seconds, then I was pushing my chair back to stand up. "Excuse me, please." With that, I stride forward, walking out of the boardroom. As soon as I was out, I could finally breathe. I pressed my back against the wall, pressing my palm over my heart to listen to my pounding heartbeat.

The people who walked passed me gave me a confused glance, so I hurried to leave there and found comfort in Hanna's office. As soon I got inside, I pushed a button that dimmed the window shade before taking off my shoes and lying on her leather couch.

I was definitely not going back into that meeting. There was no way I would have survived another minute of being in Rogue's presence. He was just too much. Veronica was right when she said every moment of yours was his.

The meeting went on for an hour and a half. I had to watch videos to pass the time, and I wanted to call Hanna and ask her if the meeting was over because I was tired of hiding in here. I sat up and tucked my legs under me, scrolling through YouTube when the door burst open, and Hanna stumbled in, trying to hold back her laughter.

As soon as she closed the door, she started to laugh, bending to hold her knees. I watched her in confusion, trying to decide if she was laughing at what had happened earlier m, which I was going to kick her ass for, or if she was laughing at something completely different.

"Beth," she choked up. "You've no idea what just happened in there." She dragged herself to the couch and sat next to me.

"So, tell me." Hanna looked at me again and burst into another fit of laughter. I glared at her. "What the hell is going on with you? Is there something on my face?"

"Sorry, sorry!" She toned down her laughter, but her voice was still amusing. "So, after you walked out of the meeting, Rogue was still annoyed. The temperature in the room had risen, but thank god Sabrina had been there to make things easier and less awkward. After passing comments, going through the concept, and finalizing, we made a list of the models we were going to contact. We were originally going to contact the models we used before from LY Agency, but Rogue said we should try new ones."

I nodded. "Okay, still waiting on the funny part."

"He also said we should take out one of the models in the list, but we told him five models were needed for the photoshoot and runway, not four. He went ahead and said he's got his fifth model. When we asked who it was, he said Beth Wallace."

I blinked, not quite sure I heard correctly. "What?"

"He meant you!" she exclaimed, pressing her lips to hold back a giggle. "He said he wanted you as the fifth model. Imagine my shock! I told him it wasn't going to work, and even Robert jumped in and backed me up. We told him we didn't like that idea and you wouldn't be on board with it either."

I half laughed and half gasped, thinking I was going to die from shock. I frantically searched my brain for guidance or instruction on how to deal with this new information. "What did he say?" I demanded. It was better to ask than to react hastily.

"He said Mogue will back out and he doesn't care if we sue him."

I blanched. "He said that?" My voice came out high pitched with a little noise of disbelief. I couldn't believe he would try and back out from something that had been in the works for months and had already been finished.

Hanna nodded, placing her chin on her fist as she stared at me stare at her incredulously. "Yeah, so Robert had no choice but to agree to his condition. We both know if Mogue backs out, we will lose millions." She sighed and wondered, "Honestly, Beth, what did you do to Rogue?"

What did I do to him, or what did he do to me?

My body clammed up with anger, battling between my conflicting sides—the sensible side, telling me to meet him and be calm about it, and my wild side, which wanted to grab him by the collar and slap him.

I stood up, my lips parting to draw a steadying breath. I looked at her. "I...I'm going to talk to him. Where is he? Has he left?"

"No, he's still in the boardroom. Everyone else is at the cafe. I came in here to see if you will join us, but I think you have more pressing matters." She wrinkled her nose, a deep frown on her face. "I just hope he listens to you and backs out from this ridiculous condition, but from what I saw in that meeting, even god can't change his direction."

*

I marched to the boardroom, legs shaking, but my confidence and anger was the only thing keeping me upright and on my feet.

Walking inside, I let the door close behind me. Rogue was preoccupied. He was standing, bent over to read something on the table, his arms resting on the chair. He looked intense as he worked, so attractive. It suddenly made me nervous, being here with him alone. Made me want to turn around and walk out of there, return back to the safety of Hanna's office.

But no, I was here to give him a piece of me. How dare he make a decision for me? Whatever control he thought he would have over me, he wasn't going to have it, and I intended for him to know that.

I stood far away from him.

"Beth," his voice came out soothingly.

I didn't realize he was aware that I had just walked in, but nothing gets past this man. I stood motionless, the only visible movement was my heart hammering out of my chest.

Rogue straightened and kept his hands on the chair. "Come closer," he commanded, in that brooding and sexy voice of his.

I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, waiting to throw myself over. How could this man affect me like this? He was just standing there with his head slightly lowered, staring up at me through his long lashes. He was perfection. He was bold and bloody commanding. His eyes pierced me, his mouth slack, and I could see the rise and fall of his chest.

"Here is fine, thank you," I answered with a bite.

His voice dropped, "I won't listen to you if you don't come closer, Beth." His wicked smile said he knew what he was doing, but I refused to let him get to me. If I didn't go through with this, it would be like this—with him thinking he could use me however he wanted, working everything like he was a puppeteer dangling me however he seemed fit. I couldn't live like this. I wouldn't.

Trying not to hyperventilate, I stepped closer. I took several steps and then paused when I liked the distance between us. He wasn't far away, but he was at a distance where I trusted myself, and closer where he could hear me. He seemed amused by all of this, the bastard.

"I take it you heard?" He changed his stance and came to stand beside the chair—half standing and half leaning against it, with his ankles crossed and his right arm lazily beside him while his other arm still on the chair. I had no idea how the chair was able to withstand his weight.

"I just have one question," I said, and he nodded, giving me a go ahead. I cocked my head to the side. "What the fuck?"

An amused chuckle I didn't think he wanted to come out released from him. My heart started hammering when he slowly began to walk towards me, his eyes fixed on me.

"Why would you suggest an outrageous thing? I'm not your possession and I'm not a goddamn model."

When he was a few feet away, his fresh, spicy scent engulfed my nose, sending my body into rigid. I balled my hands into fists beside me, keeping my eyes to his as he neared until he was standing before me. He was as close as he could be without physically touching me.

"Well, everyone should be given the opportunity to try something new," he answered with a chuckle that sounded positively light-hearted compared to the tension charging around us.