I screw my eyes shut and cover my face with my hand. Nice one, Amy.
“I’m impressed.” He sounds it, too. “This is going better than I expected.”
That does it. “I turned him down. I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. I don’t sleep with people on command.” Okay, so I’ve twisted the truth a little there, but I have to salvage some pride from this mess.
A strange prickling sensation skitters over my arms, and I prop my chin on my hand and open my eyes.
What the holyfuck?
I don’t even care that Rex is speaking. I cut him off, drop my cell on the table, and watch as Gage Reynolds swaggers toward me, looking as though he owns the place and everything in it.
Did he hear me talking to Rex? No, he’s too far away. My mouth dries and it’s getting harder to breathe. He was hot in his natural habitat, but in Mama Coco’s, which is the least cool place on earth, he looks like a freaking alien sex god.
I’m so screwed.
…
Gage
I’ve never chased after a girl in my life, and up until a couple of hours ago had no intention of hunting Amelia down. If she wanted out, then fuck her.
Except her cute smile and the way she waved her finger at me kept running through my mind until I could hardly think straight. Finally, the question I’d been avoiding all night smacked me in the face. Did she quit because she didn’t think I could respect herboundaries?
Chicks in my world don’t give ultimatums or back off when it’s obvious we both want the same thing. My head’s telling me to forget her, but I can’t, and that’s why I’m at Mama Coco’s Diner, the place she put as a reference, which is full of old people with little kids.
Amelia’s staring at me as if she can’t believe her eyes, and it’s crazy how good she looks in the buttoned-up, ugly-as-fuck uniform she’s wearing. I forget about giving her a hard time, as if that was ever my intention, and instead I grin at the expression on her face, pull out the chair opposite her, and sit down.
She slowly straightens and sits back in her chair. “Well,” she says at last. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”
It’s hard, but I resist the urge to stretch out my legs and hook my feet around her ankles. “You walked out on me. Need to know why.”
Guilt flashes across her face. “Kat said she could get someone to cover for me.”
For a second I’m thrown. She feels guilty for letting Kat down, but not me? I lean my forearms on the table and lean into her space. “Are you scared of me?”
She laughs, which isn’t exactly what I expect, but it’s a relief to know that isn’t the reason she bailed.
“Get over yourself. You’re not that scary. I could bring you to your knees no problem if I needed to.”
“I’d like to see you try.” I don’t bother hiding my mocking tone. She’s a tiny thing, and the thought of her being able to bring any guy to his knees is laughable. “Carry a baseball bat in your purse, do you?”
“You’d be surprised what I carry in my purse.”
“You’ll have to show me sometime.” What the hell? Did I really just say that? I’ve no interest in what shit chicks have in their purses, but when Amelia smiles I guess my comment wasn’t so crazy after all.
She inches forward and rests her elbows on the edge of the table. “What’re you doing here, Gage?”
I wish I knew. Not that I’m going to tell her that. “You want to tell me why you bailed on me, baby?”
She doesn’t get prickly when I call her baby, and I’m taking that as a good thing. Christ, what’s wrong with me? It’s kind of funny, in an unbelievable way, how badly I want her to come back to Odin’s.
“I just…” She drops her gaze and frowns at the table. “I think it’s a bad idea, that’s all.”
“Why? Because you wanna sleep with your boss?” I leer at her when she glances up at me, and she pulls a face like she just sucked on a lemon. Since when has talking with a chick ever been this much fun?
“No. Because myformerboss can’t keep his hands to himself.”
“Sure I can.” I wait for a couple of seconds so she knows I’m serious.Am I really having this conversation?“I just don’t understand why you want me to.” And right then it hits me—the reason why she’s so determined to hold me off. Why hadn’t I thought of it before? “Are you seeing someone?”
