“Bullshit.” Her tone is pure O’Ryan—stubborn, relentless. “If you’re mad, say it.”
I lean back, jaw tight. “Just tired.”
“Liar.”
We finish dinner mostly in silence.
When we get to the hotel, she drops her bag on the bed and spins on me. “Okay, spill it. You’ve been brooding like it’s your full-time job. What’s wrong?”
I shove my hands in my pockets and turn to the wet bar, searching for bottled water. “I said I’m fine.”
“You’re the worst liar I’ve ever met,” she says, crossing her arms. “Is it something I did?”
My temper snaps before I can stop it. “You really don’t see it, do you?”
Her eyebrows knit. “See what?”
“Brooks,” I bite out. “The way he looks at you. The way he touches you like he still owns you. And you just… you just let him.”
Her mouth falls open, and she pops that perfect fucking hip. “He brushed my hair out of my face, Matt. I didn’t respond.”
“You fucking smiled at him like he’s the drip of chocolate at a fondue fountain.”
Her head tilts and her eyes narrow. “I did not. I faked it. I was doing my job.”
“He was flirting. And he knows exactly what he’s doing. You want a man that treats you like shit, is that it? Can you not see it?” My voice comes out rougher than I meant it to, chest tight. “He’s playing you.”
Her eyes flash. “This is my career. You think I don’t know that? I just didn’t want to make a scene.”
“I wanted to make one for you,” I admit, and it’s the truth that stings most. “You don’t deserve that. You deserve someone who’d burn the damn field down before letting a guy like him near you again.”
We’re standing too close now, breathing the same air. She’s flushed, her chest rising fast, her eyes darting between mine.
—
“You’re staring,” she says, folding her arms.
“I’m observing,” I reply.
“Like a scientist?”
“Like a man trying not to make terrible life choices.”
She snorts. “You’re failing.”
“Spectacularly.”
Her lips twitch, and suddenly I’m in trouble. The dangerous kind. The kind that ends with me forgetting every rule I ever made for myself.
“You know this is a bad idea,” she says softly.
I take a step closer. “I know.”
“And you’re still going to do it.”
“Without hesitation.”
She exhales slowly, like she’s trying to talk herself out of me.
