“That’s a great idea. Short Fuse here is my best girl.”
“I said I’m not interested.” The words were low and even.
Occum squinted as he assessed the other man. “I got plenty of girls to choose from.”
I’m sure the color drained from my face. If this man didn’t go for me…I didn’t know what I’d do. My anger was flushed away with a wave of panic. Clifford studied me. My heart was pounding in my chest. He had to choose me. I only had one shot at this. I poured all my heart into staring back at the man, praying he could hear me. Please pick me.Please.
He may not be interested in me or what I had to offer but our eyes had clashed like this before. It was like an invisible power line connected us. I poured all of my emotion into it just like I had on stage that night. A thousand hours passed as he held my stare.
“It’s not going to change anything,” he said eventually.
I let go of a slow breath, tingling with relief. Occum’s mouth pulled into a slow smile.
“We’ll see about that.” Occum stood and went to the door.
“You can’t just lock people in rooms until they agree to your terms.” Clifford stood back to allow him to use the key.
Occum turned a cold smile in his direction. “Watch me.”
He was out the door before the other man had time to react. Clifford beat on the door with all his rage. “Open this door!”
“You can beat it until the cows come home but Occum isn’t coming back until he gets what he wants.”
“This is absurd. You cannot lock a man against his will.” He stopped his banging to look at me. “How are you not more outraged?”
I shrugged. I mean, it wasn’t great, but I was pretty much used to this behavior from the men in my life. “He’s just proving a point.”
“I’m calling the police.”
He reached into his pocket. My hand was on his arm to stop him. “Wait. Can we just talk for a minute?”
This close his face looked younger than I originally thought. He was actually quite handsome behind the frown that wrinkled his forehead. Sure, his eyebrows needed plucking and his salt and pepper hair was in desperate need of a good trim, but cluck, he was handsome. His dark eyes flicked back and forth between mine.
Something hardened in his gaze as he watched me.
“I’m not interested in what you have to offer.”
I pushed back the anger from that comment. I was wholly unused to being refused but punching him square in the nose wouldn’t get me anywhere. This wasn’t about my pride. This guy wanted logic.
“If it’s not me it’s gonna be another girl, or another way.”
His fist dropped from the door to hang at his side. He took a deep breath and actually seemed to be listening to what I had to say.
“Let’s just talk,” I added.
“Talk?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard good things about it. You use your mouth to form words and those words make sentences.”
“Clever.” His voice was flat but I swore he looked at me a little differently, like I’d surprised him. I gently tugged him by the wrist to the sofa. He fell into it, a sorta shocked look covering his face, but doing it anyhow.
“He can’t lock us in here,” he said but his protest was half-hearted.
“Shhh.” I pressed my fingers to his lips.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
I pulled back and stood before him, letting him take in my body. The purple suede of this getup made my eyes pop, not to mention what it did for my figure. I always got the best tips when I wore it. But his attention remained locked on my face. He genuinely had no physical interest in me, far as I could tell. What the actual cluck?
