Within me, a spark turns my cold fear into vapors. The flame inside me is unwilling to allow this invasion to go unchallenged. I’m a badass bitch and no one bullies me. I refuse to be pushed out of my own home.
As I pick up the butterfly preserved in glass, new resolve steels my spine. I don’t know if it’s a gift, a threat, or something else entirely, but I’m changing the narrative.
I meet Ted's gaze. "I'm not running away," my voice rings in the room, a testament to my newfound resolve.
Chapter28
The Alpha Impulse
TED
“You aren’t going alone,” I tell Goldie for the third time because I’m not sure she heard me the first two times.
“Tedly,” she sighs in that way that gets under my skin. I prefer that if she say my name, she scream it. “I have to go to work. You can’t guard me every second of the day.”
Goldie applies foundation at the vanity in her bedroom, making her already creamy skin a flawless shade. I pace back and forth behind her, but the bedroom is small, leaving me claustrophobic.
“I own my own company and make my own hours, so I can for a while,” I argue. “I’m coming, if nothing else, to keep those handsy creeps from proposing to you.”
“I can handle them myself,” she insists. “I texted my boss and Rap’s already looking into some power dampening spells to help me work while we get this under control.”
Strange for a woman who owns a humans-only bar to have such connections. But I could easily spot Rap values her secrets as much as I do.
“You never tell these guys no,” I point out.
Goldie turns around on her ridiculous little poof seat. It makes her look like some movie star from the 40s the way her hair is curled. But the smoky eye makeup she’s half applied and generous cleavage practically spilling out of tonight’s corset leaves my nerves battered and my pants way too fucking tight.
“I do too,” she shoots back, her pink mouth an outraged ‘O’ I want to kiss senseless.
“I saw you with those guys. Even the one who followed you home. You never say no. You simply try to put them off, or your last ditch effort of telling them you have a boyfriend so you don’t have to straight on tell them you're not interested.”
“That’s a kind of no,” she counters, pointing a makeup brush at me with vindictiveness.
“No, it’s not. You are trying to keep your hands clean of being off-putting. But what do you care if these idiots get rejected?”
“Just because I'm not interested, doesn’t mean I need to be rude. They are people too, with feelings,” she sniffs.
“When men are coming at you like a pack of animals, following you home, and hassling you, rudeness is necessary. If you ever come face to face with the person who has broken into your house, will you try to polite them out of your life?”
She picks up a smaller brush and waves it at me. “That’s different, and I’m already working on a solution. There are so many home protection devices one can get off the internet.”
“If you think I’m going to let you sleep here, much less alone, you are out of your mind.”
Goldie blows a big breath out, her cheeks turning pink. “Tedinator, I am a big girl, both literally and figuratively as you can see.”
I rub a hand down my face. “Why do you even feel you need to bring that up? You’re beautiful and you know I'm fucking addicted to your body.”
She blinks. “I never said I wasn’t beautiful. What I am saying is that I’ve dealt with more than my fair share of bullshit and know I need to take care of things for myself.”
“That’s not how you liked it this morning,” I shoot back, instantly regretting the words as they fall out of my mouth. Faelords, why can I be such a dick?
Because the bullshit you have dealt with has turned you into a bitter old man at an early age. And unlike her, you have zero finesse when it comes to expressing yourself.
Goldie’s mouth flops open then snaps shut again as if I struck her.
“Listen,” I say already trying to backpedal, holding my hands up, trying to calm the volcano before it erupts.
“No, you listen.” She stands and walks over to face me. “Like I told you this morning, I don’t need you. While I appreciate your brother's help with the camera surveillance, I will handle things from here out.”
