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CHAPTER SIX
Bella
“Get out of my house.” Bella swiped the cum from her chest before throwing the towel to the ground and walking completely nude to the door.
She couldn’t care less about her state of dress—or undress. She had a son of a bitch to get out of her cottage.
“Why?” Heath propped his hands on his hips, not budging from the sink, or making any move to cover himself. Their nude battle of the wills would have been funny if Bella weren’t so angry and hurt.
“You know why. Don’t play dumb, Mr. Miller, it doesn’t suit you.” Holding her head high, she whipped open the door and gestured out into the now dark night.
Cold autumn air rushed in, making every hair on her body stand on end and her nipples pucker painfully, but she refused to shiver. She would not acknowledge any stimulus except the infuriating man who still glared at her from across the room as if he were the one who had grounds for righteous indignation.
She wanted to slap him, hard, an instinct that was frightening considering she had never hit anyone in her life.
“It doesn’t suit you either, Ms. Quinn,” he countered, finally going to the bed and retrieving the silk boxer shorts he had dropped to the floor.
“I won’t even pretend to know or care what you’re talking about. Just get your clothes on and get out. Or don’t get your clothes and get out, I don’t care either way.”
“It’s obvious you don’t care. As soon as you’re done with me, you expect me to act like nothing happened. You’ll have to forgive me if that’s a little difficult.” Heath’s cheeks flushed red as he struggled into his boxers, the black fabric looking fabulous against his golden skin.
“What?” Bella was even more confused.
“I— You know what? Forget about it. Forget I said anything. I should have known better than to come here. You don’t like visitors, you live out in the middle of nowhere, it should have given me a clue.” He pulled his white t-shirt roughly over his head and snatched his button-down from the floor. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he bent to search for the khaki pants Bella could see had made their way under the bed.
Way way under the bed. She was about to tell him where to find them when her curiosity got the better of her.
“A clue about what?”
“That you’re crazy,” he said, not looking her direction.
“You’re the one who treated me like a hooker,” Bella said with forced calm. “Why am I crazy to tell you to get out my house?”
“I didn’t treat you like a hooker. I wouldn’t even know how to treat a hooker. I’ve never had to pay for sex.”
“Well, I’ve never been paid for sex, but that’s how it felt. You were disrespectful and you know it.”
He stopped searching for his pants and looked at her. For a second it seemed he was going to argue, but then he took a deep breath and dropped his eyes to the floor.
When he spoke this time, his voice was softer. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean it. My feelings were hurt and I reacted without thinking. That’s what I do. I react. I’m reactive. Maybe not the best trait, but—”
“Your feelings were hurt? How in the world did I hurt your feelings?” Bella asked, truly dumbfounded.
“Don’t worry about it,” he mumbled after a moment, once again searching the floor for his pants in all the wrong places.
“No please, tell me. I’d like to know.”
“You called me Mr. Miller,” he said in a stiff voice. “And it hurt my feelings because I thought we were having a good time and you were warming up to me and I was more than warmed up to you so…”
His feelings were hurt because he thought she didn’t think what they’d done was special?
She didn’t know much about men, but this didn’t seem to be a typical male reaction and she liked that. She liked it a lot.
“I’m sorry.” Bella smiled tentatively as she let the door swing shut behind her.
“You don’t have to be sorry, I can take it. I promise not to be a jerk about it again. I don’t hold grudges. I’m not a grudge-holder.” He crossed his muscled arms across his chest in what Bella assumed was an effort to appear tough and businesslike.
It was absolutely adorable, and something inside her softened.
