“Not happening.”
Her eyes narrowed, the hint of humor gone from her expression now. “You know I can outlast you, right? I’m staying here all week. You’ll need to go to work before I do.”
He shrugged. “I can afford to take time off. My staff can cover for me.”
“You would miss a whole week of work just to babysit me? Come on, Gib. That’s dumb.”
“Not leaving, Sam.”
Something fierce flashed in her eyes—lightning in a night storm. “So your solution to helping a woman who was almost forced into something is to force her into something? That’s fucked up, Gib. This dominance bullshit doesn’t work on me.”
“So ignore me. Pretend I’m not here. I don’t care. But do you actually think I could just drive away and go about my week, knowing that you’re out here alone? Knowing that if something happened to you, no one would be here to help? If you think that, you don’t know me at all. I’ll sleep on the goddamned porch if I have to.”
She threw her arms out to her sides, irritation marking every angle of her body. “God, stop acting like I’m some damsel in distress! I’m a grown woman who knows how to lock a door and shoot a gun. You know how many times I’ve been out here alone? I’ve been alone my whole goddamned life and in a lot scarier places than this. I don’t need a bodyguard. And I definitely don’t need you.”
The words were harsh, her voice loud, but he could see the frayed edges. Sam wasn’t herself. This was the duct-taped version of the woman he knew. This was what Tess had warned him about. He had to tread carefully. If he dinged her pride or pushed too hard, she’d shut him out completely. He wanted to reach out to her, but she was so tense she was vibrating with it, strung up tight and on edge. If he reached for her, she’d probably take a swing at him. “I know you can handle yourself. But this isn’t safe. I get that you want your vacation. I’m not begrudging you that. But I’m not leaving you here alone. So I’ll do whatever you need me to as long as you let me stay.”
A muscle in her jaw ticked. “Whatever I need. Sure. As long as it’s on your terms. You weren’t willing to give me what I needed last night at the Ranch. You had your chance. I asked for your help and you turned me away.”
The words were like bullets and his defenses rose up. “You weren’t in any state to play last night. Even Grant saw that.”
She scoffed and turned her back on him, staring out the window. “As if you would’ve said yes, anyway. That’s bull and you know it. You were embarrassed. People looked at you and you were fucking ashamed, like God forbid they think the mighty Gibson Andrews would kneel for someone like me.”
That did it. Any semblance of calm flew right out of him. Mainly because she was right. Not about her. But about the embarrassment. He’d acted like a coward.
“You want to beat me, Sam?” he said, his voice rising. “Is that what you really need? You want to take all that anger boiling inside you and rip me to shreds? Then fucking do it. Put me on my knees and do it.”
She stiffened, her back going ramrod straight. Her fingers flexed at her sides. “Leave, Gib. Now.”
Her words threw him, the fear lacing them. But it wasn’t fear of him. He felt that in his bones. It was fear of the temptation. She wanted what he’d offered. He could almost taste it in the air. She needed to rage. To fight. To do what she couldn’t last night when those guys had grabbed her.
Acting purely on instinct and adrenaline, he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her tight, pinning her arms to her sides. “Make me.”
She wrenched in his arms, kicking out. “What are you doing? Get the hell off me.”
He pressed his mouth against her ear. “Make. Me.”
A grinding sound of rage came out of her, and in two swift moves, she jammed on his foot and then let all her weight drop in his hold. The sharp pain in his foot made him loosen his grip and she went to the floor. Before he could swipe for her again, she was spinning onto her feet and coming at him. She shoved him hard. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
The fire in her eyes was real. Blazing. And though he hated the reason it was there, it chased heat through him just the same. Lit things up. Trails of light and desire. “Lots of things.”
She shoved him again, her little body packing more power than anyone looking at her would expect. He let the force of it back him up another step. “You think I can’t kick you out of here? You think you’re the big man who can just decide you’re staying?” She poked a hard finger to his chest as his back hit the wall. “Don’t think I won’t drive up the road and call the cops, tell them you’re trespassing. You’re leaving.”
The words bounced off the wall, her cheeks red with anger and eyes wild. She looked like an avenging angel. The kind who’d fallen a long time ago and would do very bad things to take him down with her. He wanted to grab her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to chase all that darkness from last night out of her eyes. “I’m not leaving. So get over it.”
Something snapped in her expression. Boom. Her hand came up and she slapped him right across the face. Hard and stinging. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was like a thunderclap in the small room.
He closed his eyes, air rushing from his lungs.
But when he opened them again, she was staring at him, her eyes wide with horror.
“Oh, shit.” The color drained from her face. She put her palm to the place that was now burning from the hit. “Gib, I’m— God, I don’t know what— I’m sorry.”
He turned his face away and swallowed hard. “It’s fine.”
“No. It’s so not. I’m sorry. I’m—I’m fucked up right now. I didn’t mean . . . Are you okay?”
Ha. If she only knew. He inhaled a deep breath, trying to