Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
We were halfway through the food when Hale muttered to his bowl of spaghetti, “So glad I put all that effort into this.”
“It’s delicious,” I forced out.
He made no reply.
I ate two more bites in excruciating silence and then announced, “You know, I think we went at this too much, too fast. Maybe I should sleep at my place tonight.”
“Running away, I see.”
Again, he said this to his food, which annoyed the hell out of me.
“I’m not running away. But I’m certain you haven’t missed there isn’t a good vibe happening right now.”
He finally looked at me. “Because you came home, got up in my shit, and I asked you to back off. And you’re ticked because I did.”
“No, I didn’t get up in your shit. And no again, I’m not ticked because you asked me to back off. I’m ticked because of how you asked me to do it. I like you. I’m curious about you. You aren’t very forthcoming, so I was trying to get to know you. We were having a conversation, Hale. And you didn’t shut it down in the nicest way.”
“It doesn’t take a licensed therapist to know I have trust issues, Elsa, and why, and to understand I need to establish boundaries, and from there, cut me some slack.”
“I have been, Hale. I give in every time you pull away.”
“Not with a lot of grace, as this conversation proves.”
All right, enough.
I slid off my stool, saying, “Thank you for dinner, it was delicious. I’d help you clean up, but I’m sure you have someone to deal with those tasks for you, so I’ll just go.”
I was moving to my bag, but he got in my way.
“We’re talking this through,” he declared.
“No, I’m leaving,” I retorted.
“You can’t run away every time we have a disagreement.”
“I can every time you act like a dick.”
“So now you’re threatening me?”
“Not at all, because there’s only so many times I’ll let you be a dick to me.”
“That’s a definite threat, babe.”
“Take it as you like, babe. Now please, get out of my way.”
He didn’t get out of my way.
I didn’t ask him again nor did I do anything gauche like try to dodge him to get to my luggage.
I didn’t do either of these because I was trying to deal with all I was feeling.
I wasn’t just mad, I was hurt.
And I was scared, because that hurt hurt.
I didn’t want to walk away.
But I didn’t think I’d done what he said I’d done. I didn’t like the feelings that came up when we fought. And I didn’t need this after having an extremely difficult night the night before. But I did need him to learn to trust me and open up to me.
Nugget of news: a red flag was waving about Hale, and all of a sudden, I realized two things. One, it had been waving all along, and I hadn’t noticed it. And two, I was more into him than I was admitting, because finally seeing it gutted me.
I broke eye contact, because, dammit, I was going to cry again.
What was happening to me?
“Baby,” he whispered.
He’d seen my emotion and he didn’t like it.
And God, why was he so awesome even when he was being a dick?
I didn’t move as he got close and cupped my jaw in his hands, but he didn’t make me look at him as he said, “Please, don’t leave.”
And sweet. He could be sweet and awesome after being a dick.
Ugh.
I beat back the tears and lifted my gaze to his.
He immediately touched his lips to mine.
God, I loved when he did that.
“You just need to give me some space around that shit,” he said gently. “I’m not used to letting people in.”
I wanted to say something flippant, because obviously, but I kept my mouth shut.
“And, Elsa, I need you not to give up on me so easily,” he pushed.
Well.
Damn.
That struck so true, it rocked me so much, I had to lift a hand and wrap it around his forearm.
The instant I touched him, a charge coursed through me, and I knew the same happened to him, because things between us changed.
Charged.
Boom!
I saw it in his eyes, I felt it between my legs.
And suddenly, we were kissing.
No touching of mouths. No teasing.
Tongues and pressure and need. It was surprising. It was consuming. It was a little frightening.
Because it was everything.
Hale broke it as abruptly as it started.
And my legs went weak when he ordered, “Get upstairs.”
Something about that was so much of a turn on, everything flew out of my head but Hale, the tingling of my lips from his kiss, and the knowledge that I was about to get myself some, and I wanted it so badly, it felt like hunger.
I didn’t reply, I didn’t hesitate, and I didn’t dally. I also didn’t run. But without a word, I turned and hurried up the stairs.