I can’t get away from her fast enough.
“Feeling super-duper tired,” I add in case she didn’t hear me the first time.
Her gaze slides to mine. “I know we agreed to forget about the past and move on, but I can’t. I want to know what your problem was with me.” She pauses for a beat. “Ineedto know.”
“What?” I laugh, but it comes out sounding choked and high-pitched. “I told you that it had nothing to do with you. It was all me. Okay?” I don’t wait for a response. “Great. Glad that’s settled. Now we can go to bed.”
Daisy shakes her head as her frown intensifies. Her gaze pins me in place. I’m powerless to move. To breathe.
“Come on, Carter. Just be straight with me.” She angles her body toward mine. “Whatever it is, I won’t be mad.”
I close my eyes and suck in a breath, but it doesn’t do a damn bit of good to calm me. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” she insists. “I don’t understand why we can’t talk about this like adults.”
Christ, she’s like one of those yappy little dogs with a bone.
Let it go, woman!
Move on!
“Just drop it!” I snap.
“I can’t.” She straightens her shoulders and glares. “There has to be a reason why you treated me like crap. I want to know what it was.”
I press my lips into a tight line.
“You’ve always been such a prick. Why?” She shakes her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders.
I’m tempted to reach out and?—
Her tongue darts out to moisten her lips and the movement all but kills me.
“Please, just tell me.” Her eyes cloud. “Your behavior…it’s always bothered me.”
“I…” There’s nothing I can say to make her understand without revealing too much of myself, and I can’t do that. I need the walls between us to stay firmly in place. Because without them…
I don’t even want to think about what could happen. The damage that would be inflicted.
“I’m a prick to everyone,” I mutter.
“That’s not true.” Her voice rises. “You’re nice enough to the girls you sleep with.”
This isn’t a conversation I can have with her. She has no idea what kind of Pandora’s box she’s trying to open.
I shoot to my feet. “This discussion is pointless. I’m going to bed.”
Her mouth drops open as I stalk to my room. I need some distance, so I can wrangle my emotions back under control again. I’llbe damned if I’m forced into admitting something that won’t do either of us any good.
“I never took you for chickenshit,” she yells.
I spin around to face her. Anger and desire rush through my system. “Excuse me?”
She jumps from the couch. Our gazes lock as she closes the distance between us.
“You heard me.” The closer she gets, the further she tips her head back to meet my eyes. “You’re a chickenshit, Carter Prescott. I don’t understand why you can’t just be honest with me. What’s the big deal?”
I clench my hands into fists to quash the need to reach out and grab hold of her, to haul her body against mine.
