I manage to cow the blush that’s threatening to out me once more. I succeed in turning it into a glare. “Next question.”
“Boy, you’re not good at taking compliments, are you?”
“Most of them are insincere.”
He cocks his head to the side. “Not me. I’m always sincere.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe that. Next damn question.”
Another sound emanates from the house, but I can’t pinpoint what it might be. My father being thrown against a solid wall?
Being punched in the gut?
Being hurled into one of the cabinets in the living room?
“Stop worrying. Sean’s not the sadistic type.”
Right on cue, there’s a louder grunt from inside the house. I look at him furiously. “You were saying?”
“You have no idea what that was.”
“I’ve answered enough of your questions,” I insist. “Let me through.”
“You can take one step forward,” he acquiesces. “Next question: where do you want to be ten years from now?”
That question takes me off guard.
I’m expecting a more invasive question, something crude or inappropriate.
But this…?
“You want to know where I wanna be in ten years?” I repeat dumbly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, her hearing is flawless. Give her a round of applause.”
He’s mocking me. But beneath that, he looks genuinely interested.
My defenses having been pulled down by the unexpectedness of the question.
And just like that, the truth spills from my lips.
“Anywhere but here.”
He arches an eyebrow and drinks in my answer. “That bad, huh?”
I look down, breaking the eye contact. Suddenly, I wish he’d asked me some superficial, insignificant question like how much I weighed or what’s my bra size.
Instead, in a matter of moments, he’s managed to strip me bare.
“I’ve had enough of your stupid game,” I whisper.
Fury blurs my eyes as I push past him. I’m expecting resistance and that’s exactly what I get when his arms wrap around my body. He pulls me against his chest and then his hand slams down over my mouth.
“What the—”
I struggle, suddenly alarmed with how hard he’s holding me, how rigid his body is against mine.
“Stop moving,” he whispers urgently into my ear. “Someone’s here.”