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Him
I’ve been standing at the kitchen counter for hours, the sun now rising as I wait for Sarah to come out of her room.
She needs space, which I’m happy to give, since the window in her room can't be opened without a key. She can't run from me. At least not without me knowing.
“When do you plan on calling Torian?” Decker asks from his leaned position against the other side of the kitchen island.
“Not until she's ready.”
“He’s not going to be happy.”
No shit. “I’ll deal with it.”
The soft click of an opening door sounds from down the hall, and Decker raises a brow. “How drunk do you think she is?”
Drunk enough to cause trouble would be my guess, especially since she isn’t a drinker. Then again, she doesn’t need to be drunk to cause problems.
Her padded footsteps approach, and I keep my focus straight ahead, on Decker, determined not to let my gaze rush after her like an eager little puppy.
“Want me to leave you two alone?” he asks.
“Really?” I glare. “Now you ask that?”
The asshole could’ve left us alone earlier, but oh no, he had to bear witness to my idiocy. He’ll never let me live it down.
He smirks. “Better late than never.”
I sigh as her slim figure nudges the edge of my sight from the start of the hall. She isn’t dressed in the jeans she had on before. It’s something less than that. Something I can’t quite determine from my peripheral vision. I clench the kitchen counter behind me and grind my molars, determined not to take a proper look.
“I’m ready to hear what you know about Jacob.” She continues forward, increasing the temptation.
“When was the last time you ate?” I finally succumb to the need to visually consume her.
Fuck.
She’s wearing the shirt I had on last night. The one I left on the floor in her bedroom. Now it’s covered in cuts and slices as if she’s spent the last hours performing a voodoo ritual on me through the large material that dwarfs her body.
She stops at the far corner of the U-shaped kitchen, her arms crossing over her chest. “Right before I stole a car,” she mutters, “to save a friend you pretended to murder in an effort to get me back in your bed.”
Decker clears his throat to disguise a laugh.
Great. I walked straight into that one.
“Well, I’m starving.” And after another night without sleep, I need caffeine. I shove from the counter and finally meet her gaze. She’s tired, the dark smudges beneath her eyes making this tough woman appear fragile. “Get changed. We’re going out for breakfast.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says softly with the undertone of her iron-clad determination.
I drag my focus away and scowl at Decker, because if I scowl at her, we are only going to fight again. “You need to focus before we talk. I’m not going to waste my time if you’re drunk.”
“As much as I would’ve loved the escapism, I didn’t drink your damn scotch,” she growls. “I only took it because I wanted to make sure you didn’t either.”
“How about I go out and get food while you two have some time alone?” Decker walks to the sofa and grabs his jacket. “You can settle your unresolved satanic rituals and be ready to eat once I get back.”
I’m not going to bite. I’m not even going to increase my glare. I’ve learned it only spurs him on. “Don’t forget the coffee.”
He jerks his head in acknowledgement and leaves via the porch.
The click of the latching door is deafening, closing me in with her anger-filled silence. I don’t know what she wants me to say to make this right. There probably isn’t anything in the English language capable of reaching the level of apology she needs.
“I’m going to take a shower.” I stalk from the kitchen, toward the hall in the opposite direction to Sarah.
“You’re angry at me now?” she accuses.
“No.” I’m tired. I’m frustrated.
“Good, because you have no right to be angry.”
I pause and bite my tongue like a motherfucker. “Go get dressed, Sarah. Decker doesn’t need to keep seeing you like that.” The exposed thighs. Those nipples beading behind the thin material.
“Decker can kiss my ass.”
I give a caustic laugh. “Be careful what you wish for. He’s more than likely to give you what you want if you keep strutting around the house wearing next to nothing.”
I continue down the hall and enter my room, not waiting for her to snap. I need a shower to clear my head. To wake me up. To wash her scent from my skin.
I undo my jeans button and lower the zipper when the door creaks wider. She’s there again, stalking in my peripheral vision like a temptress. “Do you plan on joining me?”
“No,” she whispers.
I shove my jeans down my legs, giving her an uncensored view of my hardening dick. “Then I suggest you get out of my room.”
Her hungry gaze takes me in, her interest straying over my crotch, then quickly diverting to my stomach. “Do you need stitches?”
“Don’t worry, princess. You barely scratched the surface.”
She raises a brow. “Then maybe you should give me another try.”
I heave out a tired breath. “You want to cut me again?”
I’ll let her, if that’s what it takes. I’ll let her take whatever revenge she needs, because I deserve it. But my willingness to admit my mistakes won’t last forever. My stubborn pride will see to that.
“No.” She continues staring, not meeting my eyes as long moments pass. “I want you to prove this isn’t another one of your games. I need you to convince me.”
“How?” I approach her and she holds up a hand, instructing me to stop. “Look, Sarah, I don’t do this shit. I don’t want to do this shit. But I fought to get you back, and I apologized for my less-than-stellar tactics—”
“Less than stellar?” She balks. “Whispering behind someone’s back is less than stellar. Conspiring against someone is less than stellar. But pretending to murder someone in an effort to get laid is a little beyond that, don’t you think?”
I clamp my mouth shut, stifling a harsh response. I already told her this isn’t about sex. If it was, I would’ve fucked her in every cheap-ass hotel in Portland. I wouldn’t have merely watched her sleep. I would’ve woken her with my face between her thighs, my fingers in her cunt.
And I sure as hell wouldn’t have let Decker see exactly how much of a vulnerability she is to me.
“Do you think I’d let you get away with stealing my car if this was only about sex?” I growl.
“Maybe this is retaliation for leaving the key fob in the console when I left the car unlocked in front of my building.”
“You left the key?”
She beams an exaggerated smile.
Fuck this woman and my crazy infatuation that only seems to grow the longer she holds that expression. Even now, I want to laugh.
Laugh? She stole my goddamn car.
But none of that matters now. The only aim is convincing her this isn’t all bullshit.
“How is exposing my home and my real name a retaliation? I’ve entrusted you with more information than I’ve ever entrusted with anyone. And you still don’t get it. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“Then don’t tell me. Show me.”
I frown. Is this some weird female fuckery? How the hell do I show her without words or the sex she claims this is about? Decker was right. I’m the dumbest asshole when it comes to women.
“If you care about me, you’ll help me find Jacob—”
“I already promised I would,” I growl.
She inclines her head. “Then you’ll let me walk away.”