We remained silent as Dirk took us slowly around the dance floor. “I missed this,” he whispered against the top of my head.
I closed my eyes and tried not to let the feel of his body against mine make me lose my strength. It was something I could easily do when it came to him. No matter how much I said I hated him, I didn’t hate being in his arms or feeling him hold me against his body. And that made my chest ache with a pain I thought I had moved on from.
“I missed you, Merit.”
I shook my head and tried to pull away, but he only held me closer.
“You’re going to let me talk to you, goddammit. I’m not letting you push me away any longer, Merit.”
My hand fisted in his t-shirt before I realized what I was doing. I quickly let go and focused on anything other than the feel of his touch. Because my goodness, it made me so lightheaded. “Dirk, there isn’t anything—”
“There is, and you know it. I’ve waited too damn long to explain about that night.”
I drew back and looked up into those vibrant green eyes. I shook the trance away and found the words to speak. “Explain what? You called me another woman’s name while we had sex. It was clear to me then—as it is now—why you did it.”
He frowned, and we slowed down almost to a stop. “Is it?” His voice was dripping with either sarcasm or anger. It could go either way.
“Yes,” I said with a forced laugh. “You obviously wished it was Kaci you were with, not me.”
Dirk slowly shook his head, then he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd of dancers.
“Dirk! What in the world are you doing?” I snapped as he navigated us through the press of people.
“We’re leaving,” he called back at me.
“Leaving?” I shouted.
If people weren’t already staring, I would have dug my heels into the ground and refused to move. The last thing I needed was for any more rumors to go around about me or Dirk. Or worse yet, the two of us behaving like children.
I relented and allowed Dirk to guide us through the crowd. I glanced back over my shoulder in an attempt to look for Channing. Where in the hell had he disappeared to, that jerk?
“He left with Lauren, if you’re looking for your date.”
With a frown, I blew out a breath and jerked my hand away from Dirk’s when we got far enough away from the crowd. “Do not manhandle me, Dirk,”
He laughed. “If you really didn’t want to come with me, you wouldn’t have. Don’t forget, Merit, it was me who taught you how to take a guy down if you were being forced to do something you didn’t want to do.”
Anger started to boil inside of me as I followed him down one of the side streets. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere private to talk.”
My entire body seemed to freeze. Dirk stopped and turned back to look at me. “What’s wrong?”
There was no way I could be alone with him. The last time we were alone was on New Year’s Eve when Tanner had asked Dirk to show me the ranch plot in his father’s office, and it had taken all of my control not to touch him.
I had spent so many years ignoring my feelings for Dirk. Then, the night I willingly gave him my body…and my heart…everything had changed. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, he still made me feel weak in the knees. He still made me want him. His smile still made my heart feel like it jumped in my chest, and his touch could easily have me begging him for more.
I shook my head to push all those thoughts away. No. No. No. I wasn’t going to let him have that sort of effect on me. I wouldn’t—or rather, I couldn’t.
Chewing on my lip, I fought the urge to run. I lifted my chin and said, “Just say what you want to say, Dirk. Here.”
He looked around the empty street. “Here?”
“Yes,” I said with a mock laugh. “It’s not like you’ve got a lot to talk about. It’s really rather simple.”
“Simple, huh?” he asked, his brow quirked up.
“Yes. You fucked me while thinking you were with another woman. How many times since then have you called one of your little random hook-ups Kaci? Of course, I’m sure they don’t care what you call them, as long as you stick your cock into them, am I right?”
Something moved across his face, and I couldn’t read the emotion, but then his eyes darkened for a moment and I felt my breath stall in my throat.
He started toward me, and I felt myself take a few steps back until I hit something hard. I pressed my back against the building behind me, as flat as I could.