“Forget about her. She’s so beneath you, beautiful. What do you even think she’s got on you? She’s so ugly from within, it comes crawling out of her skin and makes her the ugliest person I’ve ever seen. All bones and a filthy mouth.”
She stared at him as he stroked her lower back. He wasn’t done, because he added, “Don’t ever take some jealous shrew’s word for the truth, you hear me? Maybe I need to remind you of what I said earlier to your little friend Jonathan—at the end of the day, we all take a dump. Although I think her dump is quite toxic.”
Kate’s lips turned up into a faint smile. He was sure trying to make her feel better. What was it that he’d advised Jonathan? Make her smile to make her feel better?’ He kissed her lips and sat back. “Don’t ever let someone make you feel the way you felt earlier, okay? You raise this beautiful chin and hold your head up high. Fuck them.”
Kate tried shifting on his lap, but his strong hands held her in place. The thought of Donovan with Maggie irked her. When had he been sleeping with her? Was she his normal type? How could he go from someone so athletic and cheerleader-like, to her? Not to mention the attitude of Maggie that’s worlds apart from her own.
She swallowed her pride and looked him in the eye. “When did you and—”
He squeezed her butt as he interrupted her, clearly knowing what she was referring to. “She’d been in Lucky once or twice before I hooked up with her. It all happened before I even knew you existed. She wanted more than I was offering, and she tried to bump into me at Duncan’s Dojo and the pub after the one night. But I shot that shit down quickly.”
Kate nodded and tried to not let the hurt show on her face. It had all been in the past and perhaps didn’t mean anything to him, but for her, Maggie stood for all the women she’d seen him with after her move to Austin. He must have noticed her hurt anyway as he soothingly stroked her lower back in comfort.
He tried to elaborate more on the subject, but for the first time in their relationship, Kate talked over him.
“You hurt me when I moved out here and you flirted in front of me.” Donovan stopped stroking her lower back, but if he was surprised by her standing up for herself, he didn’t show it.
She continued. “I know that we’d only met once in your family’s pub, but I truly thought we’d made a connection then, and I couldn’t wait to see you that first night in Austin.” She snorted and looked over his shoulder as she couldn’t hold his stare any longer.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I know I’ve been a stupid arsehole, cupcake. I’ve been a real dick to you. Only because I was scared of the way you made me feel. I know, it sounds real childish, but I didn’t know what to do with myself after your move out here. I wasn’t ready for a beautiful, smart, and most of all sweet and very sexy cupcake to turn my world upside down.”
She closed her eyes and nodded in understanding. His hands on both sides of her face made her open her eyes and stare into his.
“But I’m ready now, cupcake. Nothing and certainly no one can come between us.”
She let go of the breath she was holding and felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She hadn’t realized she’d been smiling when he said, “Damn, that smile of yours gets me every time.”