“Don’t touch me. You have no goddamn right.” Her eyes held his, but there was nothing there, the fire completely extinguished.
She was destroying him, every word out of her mouth a knife to the heart. “You know why I’m here, Rusty. Please let me explain. Will you do that? Will you hear me out?”
“Did you ask me out so you could get your hands on our business?”
Shit. “At first, but…”
“There’s nothing more to say.”
“There’s a fuck of a lot more to say.”
“Not from where I’m standing. You’re nothing but a ruthless, using asshole, and I don’t want to see you ever again. Now leave.”
He lunged forward, grabbed her shoulders, and dragged her up against him. She stood motionless, a fucking statue in his arms. Her skin even felt cool.
He backed her up, pressed her against the wall, cupped her precious face. “You have to believe me. I changed my mind. I could never take West’s from you. I know how you feel about that place. Shit, Rusty, I want you, not your business. Baby, I’ve fallen for you. I love you.”
A sound that could only be described as agony broke past her lips. It tore him up, made him feel like the monster he’d always thought he was—until Rusty, until she made him believe he was more than that.
She started to struggle, pounded against his chest. “Don’t you say that, don’t you fucking say that to me, you lying son of a bitch.”
He took it, took the hits, then held her away to look her in the eye and said it again. “I love you, Rusty. So fucking much.”
She seemed to shrink in on herself and jerked back, grabbing his wrists when he held on, shoving them away. She shook her head in denial. “No, you don’t. And I don’t love you. I could never love someone like you.” Her face was closed off again, all the fight drained from her.
He released her immediately, because yeah, that hurt. Hurt more than any hit he’d taken from his old man. More painful than the split lips and black eyes—all the broken bones put together. “You don’t mean that.”
She met his gaze. “I always mean what I say, Reid. Unlike you, I always have.” She took a retreating step. “Now, just go. Leave me the hell alone.”
He had no choice but to do as she asked. He’d destroyed what they had, all his hopes for a future with her. And he realized as she shut the door in his face, nothing could fix it.
He’d lost her, and this time there was no chance of forgiveness, no explaining it away, no getting her back.
It had been close to a week since she ended it with Reid—six whole days since he’d pressed her against the wall and told her he loved her in that deep, broken voice.
But when Rusty heard the deep growl of an engine roaring into West’s parking lot—even though it wasn’t the distinctive rumble of Reid’s car—her belly still flipped. And that pissed her off. What made her angrier still was the shot of excitement that spiked through her veins.
She shook her head. It had been lies, all of it. He didn’t love her. How could he and keep something like that from her?
But unfortunately, her traitorous body still hadn’t caught up, hadn’t gotten the memo from her brain that no, she would never feel his hands on her bare skin again, never feel him moving above her, pushing deep inside her. Never feel his mouth on hers.
Stop this. Shut it down.
The sound of boots hitting the concrete floor behind her, followed by Alex’s greeting, had her relaxing her shoulders, though she hadn’t even realized she’d tensed until that moment. She’d known without looking it wasn’t him, still her body continued to betray her, anticipation flooding her system.
“Rust,” Alex called. “Someone to see you.”
Great.
Rusty straightened from the engine she was working on, wiped her hands on a rag, and turned to face the door.
Law, Reid’s friend and business manager, stood by the double roller doors, shoulder propped against the frame, taking in the workshop with sharp assessing eyes. “I can see why he wanted it.”
Prick.
Throwing the rag on the work bench, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You taking a shot now, Law? Did your boss send you to woo me as well, seduce me into handing over my business to him? Or maybe Pipe’s more to your taste? Alex is taken unfortunately. It’s just my sister and me to choose from. You like blondes or redheads?”
He pushed off the wall and came toward her. “Reid doesn’t know I’m here.”
