“I heard what you said to Smoke and what you said to me. You were very definite.”
“And that didn’t bother you?”
She cocks her head, and I smell trouble. “Did you want it to bother me?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Let me get this straight, you spit out bullshit and then get mad ‘cause I didn’t what . . . scream and cry and beg for you to want me?”
“When you put it like that, I sound like a douche.”
“Exactly.” She pushes off the couch and turns toward the door.
Ijump up and block her path. “No fuckin’ way are you leaving.”
“Are you going to physically stop me?” She stands right up to me, even though I outweigh her by a hundred pounds.
Fuckin’ amazing.
I point to the couch. “Sit the fuck down so we can figure this out.”
“You can’t boss me around. I fight for the Harlots, not you.”
“You might fight for the Harlots, but it’s the Royal Bastards who fund the fight club.”
“And the Harlots fighting are your biggest moneymakers, so I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. Maybe even seventy-thirty in the Harlots’ favor.”
Shit, why did I have to fall for a woman with brains and a quick tongue?
We’re so close, I can feel the heat of her anger, and the scent of her perfume. Spicy citrus. Just like her.
We glare at each other for a few minutes, and my dick brain tells me to pull her into my arms and fuck her stupid right here on the leather couch, but that would be like putting a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage.
I step away from her again and motion to the couch. She sits, and I put distance between us, because getting close to her is dangerous and irresistible, and right now, I have to stay on point and make sure we both understand each other.
“Let’s start over.” I shift on the cushion. “I know I made some mistakes.”
“What freaked me out was how you talked about me to Smoke that morning. I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but you can’t deny you did say those things.”
“I just told him what he wanted to hear.”
“But if you really had feelings for me, you would’ve stood up for me or for us.”
“I was confused.” I drag my fingers through my hair. “Shit, don’t you ever get confused?”
“Of course, but I think I’ve known the way I feel about you from that first night right here in this room.”
“C’mon, really? You were scared shit of me.”
“Yes and no. As fierce as you were, you didn’t force me to do anything, and even after we got each other worked up, when I said no, you listened.”
“I’m not that guy. I’ve never had to force a woman into sex.”
“Then the way you let me stay and sleep on the couch, even though you weren’t getting sex. Most guys would’ve been really pissed.”
“Gotta admit, my dick was pretty pissed off at me.” I laugh around my words. “So pissed off, I had to take a cold shower.”
“I know.” She waggles her eyebrows.
