“‘Stalking’ is in quotation marks!” I shriek. “It’s not a real stalker if you know who it is.”
He’s so shocked he releases me. “That’s not—that’s not even true. That’s not how that works.”
“It’s not that serious.”
“Wrong, Cupcake. This is fucking serious. Why do you insist on fighting me?”
“I can’t repay you!” I wave my arms.
“You don’t have to. I want to keep you here.”
“I’m not your pet or some trophy that you can keep on display just to prove to yourself that you won.” I stuff my phone down my bra then turn back to my packing. “Thank you for your hospitality, but I’m going to get out of your hair.”
Chewing on my lip, I look at my stand mixer. I can hear Bethany in my head scolding me about keeping personal possessions at a Prism client’s house. She’d definitely lose it if she knew I’d slept in his bed.
I’ll get a storage unit. See? Problem solved. And I can live there too.
“You’re not leaving here. You don’t even have anywhere to stay.” He’s derisive, like I’m some stupid little girl that can’t manage her own life.
“I can’t stay at my client’s house.”
“I will put you in one of my brother’s hotels.”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.”
His eyes narrow. His jaw clenches, the tendon on his neck prominent. He’s about to blow a gasket.
“You are so infuriating. You put yourself and your dog in danger, all because you’re too stubborn to admit that I’m right that you’re in danger and that you cannot, in fact, be trusted to take care of yourself.”
“I’m not in any danger. You overreact,” I tell him, busily packing my bag.
He grabs a shirt from me and throws it down, getting in my face.
“Your ex says otherwise. The messages on your phone say otherwise, and I haven’t even played your voicemails because I’d probably go to jail as an accessory to a crime just for listening to whatever the hell these men are sending you.”
“They just want attention. I ignore them and move on, which is what you need to do.”
“You are so incompetent.”
“You are so possessive and overprotective and controlling. You’re the one who’s causing me the most trouble right now.”
We’re both breathing hard, not backing down.
“Fine.” McCarthy steps back. “You’re going to realize that you were wrong and I was right, and you’ll come crawling back to me. And this time, I’m going to make you beg before I help you. I’m not going to just show up and save you from yourself.”
“Fine.I don’t need you to anyway.”
“Oh my god,you slept in his bed?” Hannah whisper-shrieks at the office.
“Shh! Keep it down.” I look around furtively.
Bethany seems to sense something is amiss. Through the glass door of her office, I see her look up.
“Not on purpose.”
“He saved you then brought you home to take care of you.” Hannah is making heart eyes.
“No, don’t do that. Usually, you’re the one telling me men like him are an inflatable red flag and I need to run far, far away.”
