“If you knew me, you’d know this wouldn’t work.”
“Tell me why. Give me a reason. ‘Cause I tried to stay away from you and it didn’t work.”
“Maybe you should try harder.”
“That’s not what you said when I came in here, pulled your skirt up, and paddled your ass.”
She glanced down. “Why do you keep pushing this? When you came back, I thought you
were ready to go back to the way we were.”
Her words stung like acid. The last time he’d hinted at more, she’d pulled away, claiming
she needed space. “Bullshit. We need to set this shit right. I saw you watching me from the corner of your eyes. Keeping tabs on who and what I’ve been doing. You’re not that slick. If I thought you wanted me to step off, I would. The fact is, it’s not what you want.”
She stood abruptly. Her chair slammed into the desk. “No one is ever going to tell me what do again.” Her accent thickened and her eyes went wild.
“Hey.”
She blinked and finally focused in on his face.
He knew now that she was back with him. “I’m not no one, and this is going to happen regardless if you want it to or not. It’s already started. I don’t know what happened to you, but I can’t help if you keep the shit bottled up. I’m watching you slip, Gia. I’m trying to be the anchor that keeps you from washing away.”
“I’m fine. Same as I’ve always been.”
“Really? Is that why you had a freak out on Demon? So, he’s fine to keep you, but not me?”
“‘Cause you want too much!”
Her scream made him take a step back.
“You don’t want an endless supply of casual sex. You want everything, and if I let you in, you will consume me. I can’t have that.” She shook her head, clutching her throat with one of her tiny hands. “I have to be in control. I fought too hard to gain that power to ever give it away again.”
Her violent reaction shocked him. “Gia, baby, it’s okay.”
“I can’t be what you want me to be. I—I just can’t.” She shook her head.
“All I want is for you to be is mine.”
“You don’t want that.” Her lower lip trembled. “You see what I let you see. If you knew
what lived inside my head, you’d never look at me the same and I couldn’t handle it.”
His stomach muscles tightened. The smart ass, strong, intelligent, and loyal woman he’d
come to know over the years was unraveling right before his eyes. Demon’s right, something is very wrong here. “What’s going on with you, G?”
She blinked and a shutter came down over her emotions. She bowed her head and took a few
deep breaths. “Nothing, I’m fine. This…” She gestured from herself to him. “It’s just not for me.”
“You can’t keep bottling this up, G. I know something is wrong.” He reached out and
grabbed her shoulder.
She stepped back. “I’m not doing this, Lefty. If you care, you’ll let sleeping dogs lie.”
He paused. Instinct told him to forge forward, but the look in her eyes stopped him. “I’m