I missed the Ream I’d known at the farm. And I wanted that back too, but I really didn’t know if that could ever be built back up again.
“No sex.”
“Excuse me?” Now, that was a surprise. Ream and I had passion in abundance and he wanted to go away for two days and not have any?
“This isn’t about that. We need time to sort our shit out and sex makes it complicated.”
“Well, maybe I want complicated.” I didn’t, far from it, but us alone … well if I had one foot in then it was to have sex with Ream. The friendship was high risk and there was a Slow Down Construction Ahead sign flashing.
“You’re not getting it. Now put on your seat belt before I have to stop the car and do it for you.”
I reached over my shoulder and brought the belt across me and clicked it in place. “I need my injections if we’re going to be gone a couple of days.”
“Taken care of.”
I jerked my gaze to him and he briefly met my eyes. “You planned this?”
“Baby, why do you think I met you at the docs?”
“How do you know where my needles are?”
“That big smart-ass horse of yours told me.”
I smiled, he chuckled and the sound sparked a flame inside me. “What if I said no?”
“I’d planned on throwing you in the car anyway.”
“You can’t just throw a person in a car and drive off. That’s kidnapping.”
His brows rose as he looked at me for a second. “I call it coercion.”
I snorted.
“That drug you take is kept in the fridge. You keep a small one in your closet.” Shit, he researched the drug I was on and knew it was kept in the fridge? It was safe to keep them at room temperature for a week at a time.
“Well, I hope you don’t plan on going across the border because I need a letter to travel with those drugs.”
“We’re not going over the border.”
“Okay, so where?”
Ream laughed and I loved how the tension he always had in his expression briefly relaxed in the moment he let the laughter in. Even when I saw him playing the guitar up on stage, looking sexy hot, he wasn’t relaxed. He was intense and focused.
“You don’t like surprises, do you?”
“Of course I do. I’m spontaneous.”
It was his turn to snort.
“What?”
“You can believe that if you want, but we both know it’s a lie. You pretend that’s what you’re doing, but what you do is try and control every aspect of your life.”
“Well, you should know. You’re the definition of control.”
His lips twitched and damn it, I wanted to lean over and kiss them. “You’re right. But you fucked that up from the moment we met.” I opened my mouth then shut it again when I caught a glimpse of his scary scowl that sent shivers of desire and fear through me at the same time. “So, now I’m smoothing out the wrinkles.”
“Do I have no say in any of this?”
He glanced at me and just the slide of his gaze running the length of me had me shifting uneasily in my seat. “No. That time has passed. I gave you time to pull your head out of your ass. You didn’t. I get back from tour and you’re with some prick who doesn’t know how to look after his girl.”
“What happened to me wasn’t Lance’s fault. And my head isn’t in my ass.”
Ream threw back his head and laughed. “I sure as fuck hope not. But still … you’re doing what I want this weekend.”
And I didn’t like the sound of that. “I don’t like being told what to do or being looked after.”
“Yeah, I got that loud and clear, beautiful. But this weekend you’re getting that.” He raised his brows when I went to object. “I want two nights.”
My heart pumped faster and faster as I began to be fully aware of what the situation was. “To what?”
“To have no arguments and give you what you need.”
“How do you know what I need, Ream?” But despite what had gone on between us, I think he did know.
He looked completely at ease with his hand slung over the steering wheel and one leg bent. “Kat, it’s a weekend of no arguing with me. A couple of days. Just us.”
Words were easily forgotten; actions made the difference, and Ream’s actions in the past were shit until recently … Could I let him have control, no arguing for two days?
“And if I say no? If I want you to take me home?” I was curious as to what he’d say. We were both stubborn and liked to get our own way, even if it was a way we didn’t particularly want, but just wanted to win.
“You in my car?” I nodded, suspicious as to where he was going with this. “Do you know where we’re going?” He knew full well I had no idea where we were going. “You had your chance to say no before you got in the car. Now, you’re with me and I get my time. Then you can decide.”
“Decide what?”
“Whether to let me in and give me all of you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” I laughed, shaking my head back and forth. When I looked at him he wasn’t smiling, he was dead serious. Could I let him in completely? Would he do the same? He liked control and it wasn’t just sexually. He had demons and yet, he’d told me little about them except his sister dying. I wasn’t the only one hiding and for us to even have a chance, to build trust again, he’d have to let me in too.
He sped onto the highway and merged into traffic. “No sex until you agree to be mine.”
“Yours? That sounds a little chauvinistic.” More like the size of a killer whale chauvinistic.
He shrugged. “It is what it is, Kat. And it goes both ways. But I’m already yours, so that part is done.”
I thought about what he wanted. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I mean, us together—alone—and no sex … that wasn’t going to happen. But he wanted more than that. Ream wanted control over the next two days. No arguing with him, just trusting him to give me what I needed. The thought made me uneasy because I hated being taken care of and the thought of giving him that made my heart race and my stomach churn.