“You and this fuckin mouth,” he muttered, shaking his head. “No woman has ever talked to me like you. Or tried to handle me like you do. You so fuckin tough, huh?”
He reached for my lip, and I smacked his hand away.
“Why?”
The grin he gave me said he liked that. Too much.
“My disgruntled employee—Cassie—burned my house down.” He dragged a hand down his face. “The police haven’t found her. I wasn’t bringing you into that mess until I knew you’d be safe.”
Some of my anger eased, but not enough. Because drama was drama. And lies were lies.
“So you just disappeared? No explanation?”
“I wanted to show up every day. Send you something every day. But I couldn’t risk her catching on to you. Or the blogs twisting shit. I was trying to protect you and not drag you into my mess.”
“And now?”
I couldn’t believe this was my life. Arguing with my own stalker aboutwhy he stopped stalking me.My mother would’ve slapped me into next week. Huey Grant would’ve combusted. For all he’d know, if he asked, was that we met at a fire scene. The. End.
“Now?” His voice softened. “Being this close again? I can’t stay away anymore. I’m tired of watching you from a distance. I want—” He stopped, swallowing. “I want you to know it’s me making you smile. I’m trying to show you I’m interested.”
“No.” My voice cracked, but I held firm. “I’m still not interested. This changes nothing.”
His eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“I said no, thank you. You made me feel crazy. I spent a whole month thinking I imagined everything. Again—I don’t do crazy. I’ll gut Cassie. And you?” I said, pointing, “I’ll ‘Taylor Schbusiness’—look it up.”
“I was protecting you, Halo.”
We stood there breathing hard. Tension thick enough to chew.
I hated that part of me that wanted him to pull me close. Hated that he knew that. He was fine as hell and dangerous as hell—my two weaknesses.
“I don’t need protecting,” I finally said. “What’s up with you men and this I was protecting you crap. Get off your own sack. Who do you think has been protecting me for this long? Me, DaVinci, you ain’t bigger than the program either.”
“Mouth, Halima,” he warned.
“Tuh,” I said, taking a step to walk away.
He grabbed my arm softly, “Aye, my bad. I know you don’t need anybody, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve someone who wants to take care of you anyway. I’m tryna like somebody again.”
My eyes flickered. My walls were cracking just a little. I knew what he was referencing, and his sharing that with me meant something, but I wasn’t letting him off that easily.
“The skates,” I said softly. “How did you know they broke?”
Fear flashed in his eyes before he covered it.
“I swear to God, if you lie to me, I will…”
“I got a detail on you.”
“You what?”
“Somebody has been everywhere you’ve been for the last month,” he admitted. “Even when I wasn’t sending gifts. Even when I stayed away, I needed to know you were straight. But they weren’t allowed to share your location unless you were in danger. I ain’t been lurking in your windows or no shit like that.”
“I should have you committed.”
“I know, but you won’t.”
