He pulled me into a bathroom and locked the door, narrowing his eyes at me. “You think I’m disgusting?”
“Extremely.” I stepped back. “I’ve lost what little respect I had for you and if you even try to put your hands on me, I’ll scream.”
“I don’t doubt that.” A trace of a smile grazed his lips, but it didn’t stay. “You haven’t shown up to work for four straight days. You think just because I f**ked you that I won’t fire you?”
“I don’t give a f**k whether you fire me or not! Have you ever thought about why I haven’t shown up to work?”
“Incompetence?”
“You’re f**king married! Married! How could you—” I shook my head as he closed the gap between us. “How could you leave that part out?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “And for the record...I’m not technically married, Aubrey.”
“I’m not technically stupid, Andrew.”
“You’re making it very difficult to talk to you right now...” His lips were nearly brushing against mine.
“That’s because you’re not making any f**king sense.” I freed myself from his grasp and headed for the door, but he grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed me against the wall.
“It’s a contested divorce,” he hissed. “If you were a real lawyer I’m sure I wouldn’t have to explain what the hell that term means, but since you’re not—”
“It means that you’re still legally married. It means that if you die before the papers go through, that your wife—which is what she is, will still be entitled to everything you ever owned. It means that you’re a LIAR! A f**king liar, who is apparently exempt from his own stupid and ineffectual rules!”
“I filed.” He gritted through his teeth. “She refused to sign, and there’s a lot of complicated shit that I’ll never feel like discussing, but we’ve been separated and out of touch for over six years. Six. Years.”
I shrugged and tried to put on my best poker face, ignoring the fact that my heart was skipping every other beat as he wiped my tears away with his thumb.
“I’ve never lied to you, Aubrey,” he said sternly. “You asked me before if I’d ever lied to you and that answer is still the same. I don’t talk about my life before Durham with anyone, but yes, I did once have a wife and she showed up to my office on her own. I didn’t call her, I never will, and I haven’t called her since I left New York. Our case is extremely complicated and I prefer not to think about it.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “You’re still wrong. You still neglected to tell me about her for six months. Six. Months!”
“At what point was I supposed to bring that shit up?” His face turned red. “In between f**king you over the phone? When I was begging your lying ass to meet me in person? When I was unknowingly helping you with your f**king homework?”
“How about before you f**ked me?” I hated that being around him pulled emotions out of me. I couldn’t pretend to act unaffected if I tried. “How about then?”
He clenched his jaw, but he didn’t say a word.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, knowing that I’d won this. “Now, I’m sure you and your lovely D-cup breasted date have a room reserved across the street, so if you don’t mind—”
“There’s nothing going on between me and my soon to be ex-wife,” he said harshly. “Nothing. And I do have a room reserved across the street. I’ve had the same one reserved for the past four nights with four different women, but I’ve been unable to f**k any of them because I can’t seem to stop thinking about my incompetent-ass-intern and how I only want to f**k her.”
Silence.
“Do you...” I shook my head. “Do you honestly think saying shit like that is a turn-on?”
“Yes...” He trailed his fingers underneath my dress, slightly brushing his thumb against the crotch of my soaked panties. “And apparently you do too...”
“Me being wet just means that I can’t control my body’s reaction to you. It doesn’t mean that I want to have sex with you. I hate you.”
“I’m pretty sure that you don’t.” He slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me close—making my breathing slow.
“Get your hands off me...”
“Say it more convincingly and I will.” He waited for my request, raising his eyebrow, but I couldn’t bring myself to say those words.
We stood staring at each other for several minutes, letting that raw, palpable tension build between us before I finally broke the silence.