Jake's POV
No one had ever rejected me.
It wasn’t arrogance: just the truth. No one said no to me. Whether it was in negotiations, fights, or… other things, I always got what I wanted.
Until now.
Brielle.
I stared out of the window of my office, the whiskey glass in my hand forgotten. The moonlight spilled across the forest, but my focus was elsewhere. My jaw tightened as I replayed the kiss in my mind: the way she’d leaned into me, her hands fisting in my shirt like she couldn’t help herself. And then the way she’d shoved me back, her words hitting like a slap to the face.
“I’m not going to be one of your hookups.”
The hell did she mean by that?
She thought I was just… what? Playing with her? Testing the waters until I got bored?
But maybe that’s how I came across to her. I didn
