"The hell I can't."
He was right behind me as I left the ballroom, heading down the hall toward the restroom. I pushed the door open, and he followed me in.
"Hey. Now you're being pervy."
He ignored me as he went through the restroom, checking every stall. Thank God they were empty.
He returned to the door and locked it, leaning against it and crossing his arms over his chest.
I stared up at him. "Really?"
"Really."
I didn't have to go, but the only way to have a moment without him staring at me was to go into a stall. How did my life come to this?
I spent a few minutes in the stall wallowing in self-pity. Finally, I pulled myself together. Hiding in a bathroom stall wasn't going to solve any of my problems.
I exited and went to the sink, washing my hands and staring at myself in the mirror. "Do you really think Bobby would hurt me? Do the things that he threatened to do?"
When Dax didn't answer, I turned my head to look at him. His eyes narrowed and he scowled. It was the most emotion I’d ever seen from him.
"Not as long as I'm around. I won’t let him put a hand on you."
I tilted my head to the side to study him. There was something in his eyes that I hadn't ever seen before, a roughness in his voice that I hadn't heard before.
“He’s probably all talk, but even if he isn't, you can't follow me around for the rest of my life."
"Never underestimate someone who threatens you."
I flinched because he had moved from the door to stand right behind me. He looked over my shoulder, his eyes intense as they stared at mine through the mirror. His words made me wonder if perhaps he'd had an experience where he'd underestimated someone.
"So you're just going to follow me around for the rest of my life?”
"If that's what it takes."
I scoffed, turning and intending to walk away. "Right. Because you have to. I'm just another job. Do you even care if something happened to me? Or would it just bother you because you failed at your job?" I hated how pathetic I sounded. Why was it important to me that I wasn’t just a job to him?
His hands came to either side of the counter, blocking me in. He brought his face close to mine, and I probably should've been afraid, but I wasn't.
"I would care if something happened to you." He ground it out like he didn't like saying it.
I held his gaze defiantly. “You're not a very good liar."
His eyes flashed with heat and his jaw tensed. "I'm not lying."
"Yes, you are. You see me as a job. As a paycheck."Shut up, Vivie. I was revealing too much about how he affected me.
Slowly, he shook his head. There was something going on in his eyes that made me think he was in a tug-of-war with himself, but why?
"You're wrong about that."
Before I could open my mouth to respond, his lips were on mine in a fierce, hot, all-consuming kiss that had my blood heating to an inferno. My knees wobbled, and I had to grip his coat to keep from melting into a gelatinous heap.
Then, as quickly as the kiss started, he jerked away. "I shouldn’t have done that. I'm sorry.” His voice and expression returned to being detached. “It won't happen again." He stalked to the door, unlocking it and flinging it open. "I'll wait outside." He exited, the door shutting behind him.
On shaky legs, I turned around, gripping the countertop. I looked in the mirror at my red, swollen, thoroughly kissed lips.
Wow.