“I scared you. Can’t you see I’m all wrong for you?” He waved a hand through the air.
She shook her head vehemently. “You did not scare me. That’s your arrogance speaking again. I’m not fucking scared of you, Stuart Duggan. You just made me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt in my life. I’d give anything to have you fuck me clear into the next day. I’m on fire with wanting you to finish what you started. I’m not fucking scared of you. I’m scared of losing myself to a man who’s too stubborn to open up to me or anyone else. A man who’d rather hide behind his feelings than admit them. I’m afraid if I let you make love to me, I’ll be ruined and you’ll still keep me at arm’s length.”
“Ariel… Babe…”
She held up a hand. “I’m not done. One more thing. I won’t have sex with you or any other man until we’re all in agreement. I won’t leave anyone out. It’s all or nothing. I told you that. You lied to me. You promised you would talk to Kester and Tarin. Instead, you took off and went into hiding.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, calming marginally. “That was wrong of me. I’m sorry. I meant to face them. I swear I did. I wasn’t lying to you at the time I made that promise.” He reached with both hands and tugged on his hair in frustration. “There was too much going on in my head. I couldn’t sort it all out. I needed some time. So I left.”
“Well, now I’m leaving. And I’m going on that trip tomorrow. I’ll make excuses for you so you don’t get kicked out of the bunker while I’m gone, but you better pull your shit together and find a way to talk to Kester and Tarin while I’m gone. You have two days. Got it? My patience is running out. Two men are waiting on me while you dork around. It’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to me. Two days. Decide if you’re in or out. Your decision is final, Stu. If I come back here and find out you haven’t put forth any effort, it’s over between us. For good. Do you understand?”
She shoved away from the wall and strode toward the door.
“Don’t walk away from me, Ariel. This conversation isn’t over.”
“This conversation was over before it started, Stu. And I’m not walking away from you. You’re walking away from me.” With that, she opened the door, stepped out into the hall, and closed her eyes, flinching as the door snicked shut behind her.
She was shaking as she walked away. It seemed crazy to have given him an ultimatum like that. It’s over between us? What? Unless she counted the smoking hot kiss he’d just given her against the wall, there had never been anything real between them to be over.
Except there always had been. From the moment they met three months ago. It had been there. Simmering. Smoldering. And now she’d laid down the law.