“I’m headed home,” he told him as he trudged towards his cabin. He’d had his dinner. He was tired. He wanted to go to bed, not be interrogated by his boss.
“I’ll walk with you.”
Bear shot him a glance.
“Cold out tonight,” Clint remarked.
“It’s cold most nights.” What did Clint want? He never talked about the weather.
“Hope that girl of yours is keeping herself warm.”
“Not my girl.” So that was his plan. He was here to talk about Ellie. Bear hadn’t heard from her since that night she’d texted him when she’d received the teddy bear. That was nearly a week ago. He’d wanted to text her so many times but he’d held himself back.
She was busy building a life. Without him.
“But you want her to be, don’t you?” Clint asked.
“What I want has nothing to do with it.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t been in to check on her.”
He sighed and turned to Clint. “What do you want from me?”
“I want to know why you just left her there? It was obvious there was something between the two of you. And you just walked away and left her on her own.”
“It’s what she wanted.”
“What she wants isn’t necessarily what she needs.”
“Jesus, just because you’re a nosy bastard who likes to control everything around you, doesn’t mean you get to interfere in my life.” He glared at Clint. He wasn’t pulling this shit on him.
“You’re not usually this grumpy.”
“You mean I normally ignore you when you get like this,” Bear said to him. “But I don’t want or need your interference, Clint.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not going to get it.”
Bear let out a huge sigh. “Why do you have to be like this?”
“I just want to help.”
“Well, don’t. I told you about her life with her parents. She wants some time to herself. Some independence. She doesn’t want another controlling relationship.”
“Come on, you’d hardly treat her like her parents did. She was their slave. She’d be your Little. Your sub.”
“It’s not what she wants,” he gritted out between his teeth.
“Did you ask her?”
He ran his hand over his face. “Look, she needs this time to herself and when she’s ready for a relationship, well, she deserves someone better than me.”
“Jesus, I knew it would be some bullshit like that,” Clint muttered.
“It’s not bullshit. Did you see that house? And you heard the lawyer, she’s rich. What the fuck can I offer her?”
Clint crossed his arms over his chest, giving Bear a look of disapproval. “This is all about Maria, because she used you to get to me. She was a gold-digging bitch.”
“I know that.”