She flung her arms out at her sides. “Ask me why, I dare you, sunshine!” She spat that last word like most people would obscenities.
Matt shook his head.
I bent down toward Maurice. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you in the car.”
He stood, and for a moment I thought he was preparing to follow me, but he grabbed my suit jacket by the lapels and shook it. “Then go. I said I’m having a conversation with him and I am.”
We all stared at one another, each of us seeming to dare the others to start a real altercation. I wanted to rage and demand that Maurice listen to me for his own good and also because I couldn’t stand that after everything we’d shared, he might go back to this other man. I didn’t beat Matt in the looks department, or at least, I didn’t think so, and if they had a connection that was deeper than ours... I might not be the one Maurice came home with tonight.
Panic made it hard to think. I had trouble dragging air into my lungs.
“Are things okay here?” A man laid his hand on my shoulder. I shook him off and spun to glare, but he wore a shirt withThe Bus Stops Herescrawled across the front and shifted nervously nearby. He flashed a small smile.
“No.”
The man blinked at me as I headed for the exit. I didn’t stop once I started walking, simply went out to the Maserati and waited with my heart beating at the speed of light. A while later Matt came out the front door and passed my vehicle, presumably on the way to his own. He noticed me and flipped me off. At least Maurice wasn’t with him.
I got out of my car. “Do that again.”
“Why?” He flipped me the bird with both hands. “What are you going to do about it, huh?”
Rage shut off my brain and I started toward him, but he ran to his truck and slammed the door. The locks engaging was ridiculously loud. I watched him leave, feeling hopeless and inadequate and about a million other awful things. Should I go inside to find Maurice? I was feeling betrayed, even though I knew for a fact I was overreacting, but I couldn’t shake off the sentiment. I wouldn’t do either of us any good this way, so I got in my car and did the most reasonable thing—I went home.
Maurice never texted me asking for a ride, and I tried to go to sleep, but after a shower didn’t help me to unwind, I threw on my black robe and went to the library, where I paced. I turned on the gas fireplace even though it was far too warm for such a thing, but I wanted to see the fire blazing in the grate. I walked around the room so many times while dragging my fingers across the leather book spines that I began to feel dizzy. I didn’t stop.
“What the fuck was that?” The question rang louder than a gunshot in the quiet room, and relief slammed me as I whirled to face Maurice in the archway.
I spread my arms, and when he didn’t come near me, I let them flop to my sides again. “I was trying to stop you from being hurt by the ex who almost kept you from dating me.” Well, I sounded angrier than I felt, but maybe I was pissed off that he hadn’t simply left the bar with me. Okay, I was beyond infuriated. I crossed my arms.
Maurice stormed toward me and held out his hands as if he wanted to wring my neck, then ended up landing a fist on the back of one of the armchairs arranged around the room. “That’s nice, but you didn’tlistento me. You didn’t trust me to make decisions. Just like you blew me off about getting everything arranged to fire that shit Xadrian this afternoon. All I got from this clusterfuck tonight is that you don’t trust me.”
I tossed up my hands. “You weren’t using your head or you wouldn’t have gone off to talk with him. Sometimes we don’t make the best decisions for ourselves.”
“Like picking the wrong foods?” Maurice asked and crossed his arms. We were two bulls preparing to lock horns.
“This is not the same thing. This isn’t like Bertie berating what you’re eating.”
“Isn’t it?” He shook his head, glasses reflecting the firelight in a disconcerting way. I couldn’t see his eyes.
“Lacey said he always hurts your feelings, and based on what I’ve heard from you, she’s right.”Ha, so there.I didn’t say that last bit, but maybe it showed on my face because he grimaced.
“And I said we needed to talk. I needed to talk to Matt. Iwantedto talk to him. Are you dating me or Lacey?”
“Tonight it felt like I wasn’t dating anyone!” I wasn’t sure when I’d started shouting, but my throat hurt. My chest heaved. I wanted to go over there and hug him, but he was a brick wall, and I knew he didn’t want me to touch him by the way he was still curled in on himself.
Maurice nodded and turned around, walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“Home. Don’t call me.” He didn’t stop.
My heart jolted. “For how long?”
He spun back around to glare and shoved up his glasses. “Until I’m ready to talk to you. I’m not coming in over the weekend. I have a few days saved up, and I’m taking a couple off next week. I’ll let you know via email. Don’t expect me on Monday.” His tone was cold and formal. This was in no way what I’d needed tonight. No, I’d wanted to spend a quiet weekend with Maurice after all the craziness that had been going on lately.
I certainly didn’t want to be alone because I’d had enough of that in my life.
“When will you be back?”
