The rest I could survive.
Rejection was familiar. Expected, even. Fake or not, this thing between us had always been fragile. There’d always been an end in sight.
It was time for me to go.
Chapter Twelve
Jamie
“What the hell, Jamie? Where do you think you’re going?”
I barely had time to turn before his hand closed around my arm and yanked me back. Hard.
I stumbled, momentum carrying me straight into him. He caught me easily, arm locking around my waist, planting me back onto the bench like he owned every inch of me.
“You think you can just drop that and walk away?” His voice was controlled, but there was an edge to it that sent heat spiraling down my spine. “You think you’ve ruined something here, so you’ll run before you have to face it?”
His grip didn’t loosen. Neither did his stare. “What are you so afraid I’m going to see?”
The question pinned me in place.
Was it wrong that this turned me on?
My pulse skidded as I licked my lips, nerves and heat tangling together. His eyes followed the motion, darkening, attention sharpening like I’d just issued an invitation.
He bent close, his mouth brushing my ear. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Do not even think about walking away from me.”
The words shot through me like lightning, igniting every nerve ending along the way.
“Do you have a real boyfriend, Jamie?”
The laugh that escaped me was thin and shaky. “No.”
“The guy waiting for you in Toronto—that’s your son?”
“Yes.” My pulse was racing now. “His name’s Hunter.”
He pulled back to study me, gaze intense and searching, like he was mapping me from the inside out.
God, I’d never felt more exposed. So stripped bare.
And I didn’t hate it.
“When I kissed you before, did you want that?”
My face flamed as a strangled whimper crawled up my throat.
His brow lifted, the corner of his mouth curving. “I’ll take that as a yes, beautiful.”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Good.” His voice dropped to something dangerous. “Would it be alright if I kissed you again?”
“God, yes. Please.”
Something broke loose in his expression. A sound rumbled out of him, low and hungry. But he didn’t close the distance the way I expected.
Instead, his hands gripped my waist and lifted me with effortless strength, repositioning me before I could process it. Suddenly I was straddling him, legs braced on either side of his thighs.
