“It,” she repeated. She couldn’t believe this level of insensitivity. “Well,itis no longer your problem, so you can go ahead and celebrate your freedom from the responsibilities of fatherhood.”
He winced. “That was a shitty thing to say.”
“What about it was incorrect?”
His jaw flexed. “Those were my children, Jannie.”
“Don’t tell me you’re not relieved. Because I won’t believe you.” Which was precisely why she hadn’t answered his calls. While she was devastated, he felt unburdened.
“Had it occurred to you that maybe I changed my mind?”
She thought back to their encounter in Vegas. Her eyes narrowed. “No.”
He sighed. “OK, OK, you got me. But it’s for the best. It really is.”
Jannie stared at him and stiffened at the conviction in his gaze, swallowing hard against the knot that formed in her throat.
He didn’t care.
He really didn’t.
She stood there regarding this man she’d wanted, married, and vowed to love until her death, and wondered how she could have been so very wrong about him.
In two swift steps, he closed the distance between them, gripping her hips and hauling her against him as he had done a thousand times. “We’re still good, aren’t we?”
“No, we’re not.” She tried to wrench away.
But Blake held fast, bending to speak directly in her ear. “Come on.Let me make you feel good. You need it.”
“No.”
“You know you want me. You always do.”
“I don’t.” She tried to pull away, but his hold was implacable.
Rolf gave a sharp bark, trying to wedge himself between them. Still, he didn’t attack Blake. Had it been anyone else manhandling her, he would have.
“Let me go!” she cried, hating how shrill her voice sounded as she struggled to wrench out of his grasp.
“Go? Nah, babe, I’ll let youcome. You know that thing I always do with my tongue while—”
“I said let me—”
“Hands off her,” came a frosty voice from behind them. “Unless you never want to grip a yoke again.”
Nick.
She had completely forgotten he was here.
Blake froze. He looked up, blinking. “What the—”
“You have two seconds.”
She felt Nick step up behind her, sensed his unique scent and vibrant energy without even turning around.
Blake’s eyes narrowed. He hesitated momentarily, but whatever he saw made him instantly release her, moving back and raking a hand through his sandy hair.
Oh, but he was pissed. Jannie had never seen such leashed fury.
