“Yeah. Why didn’t we ever go out? I mean, I know the attraction was there for me. Am I just not your type, or was it a ‘don’t mix business and pleasure’ thing?”
Oh, God. This can’t be happening. “Um …”
Sloan leans forward on the beanbag chair. “Judging by the fact that Micah’s an attractive, dark-haired, tattooed guy, I’m guessing it’s not a matter of type.”
“Y-you never even asked me out!”
He dismisses my statement with a wave of his hand and shakes his head. “Uh-uh. That’s not good enough. Why did we never hook up?”
My eyes flit to the hallway, but Micah appears to still be upstairs with Hailey. “I really don’t think that’s an appropriate question to be asking, Sloan. We worked together on an ad campaign. You were an actor we hired. Sure, we got along okay, but that was it. You never asked me out, never called me when the campaign was done. I honestly was surprised you remembered my name today.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding! Iris, you aresmokinghot! How could I forget you?”
This conversation is not helping with my feeling of unease having Sloan in the house. Is he really sitting there talking about how hot he thinks I am when my boyfriend is right upstairs? “Well, for someone who thought I was so ‘hot,’ you sure never made an effort.”
Sloan rolls his eyes and stands up from the beanbag. “So, what? Since I’m themanI have to make the first move? Is that it?”
“Ugh! That’s such a typical guy thing to say.” I stand up as well, spurred on by a building rage inside me. Howdarehe? He’s acting like Iowedhim a date just because we got along during the campaign! Does he expect all women to just throw themselves at him or something? “I’ll have you know I gave Micah my number first, so it has nothing to do with you being such a manly man.”
When his hands clench into fists at his side, I wonder if I’ve gone too far. My rage fades, replaced with a sudden fear. Sloan doesn’t have a rep for hurting women, but I worry that Micah’s taking too long putting Hailey to bed.
As if summoned by my thoughts, Micah appears in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl painted on his face. Uh-oh.
“Why are you threatening my girlfriend?” he asks, his voice ice cold.
Sloan growls under his breath, but he takes a step back and relaxes his hands. “I didn’t say a Goddamn thing to threaten her.”
Micah steps between us, blocking my view of Sloan. “You were standing over her with your fists clenched. Don’t tell me that’s not threatening behavior.”
“I didn’t lay a fucking hand on her!”
I’m worried they’re going to come to blows, but Micah just points to the door. “Why don’t you G-T-F-O while I’m still feeling generous? I’ll call you an Uber.”
“Those freaks with the cameras are still out there!”
Micah doesn’t budge. “Then I guess they’ll get some candid shots of your ass getting kicked out of my house.”
Sloan leaves without another word—but not without slamming the door so hard it cracks the frosted glass window. I jump at the loudbangand start shaking. It seems that with my adrenaline dropping, my logical brain realizes just how close I came to the wrong side of Sloan Maverick’s temper.
As soon as Sloan’s gone, Micah wraps me in a bear hug and holds me until the shaking stops. “You okay, baby? I didn’t hear what he said to you, but one look at him was enough to know I had to stop him from saying or doing anything else.”
I shake my head and give Micah a squeeze. “I’m fine. He didn’t really say anything overtly offensive; he was just being a dick.”
“Whatdidhe say?”
“He just wouldn’t shut up about ‘why didn’t we hook up when we worked together.’ Then he basically blamed me for us not dating, like I was just supposed to know he was interested and make the first move. He never even gave me a single signal back then, yet somehow it’smyfault.”
Micah’s body stiffens. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
“Micah, no!” I lean back and look into his eyes. Murder is definitely on the menu. “Micah, he’s got enough pull to get you put away if you try to hurt him. Hell, he’s probably going to spin this to make him look like a victim, and neither of us did anything wrong. It’s best to just drop it. I’ll talk to the client tomorrow and see about recasting Sloan’s character. I don’t want him around Hailey if he’s going to act like this.”
“I don’t want him aroundyou, either, if he’s going to act like this,” Micah says. He’s still seething, but I think I’ve calmed him enough that he won’t do anything to Sloan.
Micah locks the door, and we clean up the remnants of dinner before heading back upstairs. Normally, I’d head home for the night since I have to work in the morning, but I don’t want to be alone right now.
Chapter 26
Micah
