Page 26 of If I Didn’t Have You

“No, you just don’t want me to spend money.”

“Now, don’t go putting words in my mouth,” I bit out. “The reason I didn’t think you needed new clothes is not that you don’t deserve them, but because you look fucking gorgeous in anything you wear. I like the old clothes just as much as I like this new dress.”

I longed to slide my hand up her thigh, to feel the warmth of her pussy on my fingers, but the last time we did that…well, it had been a while. And I had the feeling it wouldn’t be welcome since she thought I was being such a bastard.

Sighing, she tugged out of my grasp. “Why do you have to make everything so complicated?”

“Me?”

“Yes!” she spun on me. “I walked in the door in a new dress and new shoes, which I thought you would like, but instead, you just stare at me with these eyes, and… I don’t know what to do with that!”

I choked out a laugh at her words. “These eyes.” I took a step forward, looking at her the same fucking way I did when she walked through the door. “You mean these eyes?”

“That’s—you weren’t⁠—”

I stalked toward her, ready to devour her. It had been a long fucking time, and as much as I worried about her rejecting me, the way she looked at me…fuck, she had to want me, too.

“The way I’m looking at you is like a starving man. The way I’m looking at you is I’m memorizing every fucking inch of your body, wondering when I can get you in bed again.”

She swallowed hard, her cheeks flushing as she licked her lips. “You—you don’t usually…”

“You started turning away from me.”

“Because I was tired.”

“And I stayed away. But Clara, if you walk in the house, showing off your legs like that, you might as well be waving a red flag at me.”

The flush in her cheeks quickly vanished, and her body stiffened. “Is that the only way to get your attention? Wear a pretty dress, and you’ll finally notice I’m still here?”

“What?” When the hell had I said anything like that?

Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly turned away from me. It didn’t take a genius to see the shaking of her shoulders, or the way she tried to hide it by grabbing her things from the bags.

“Clara, I’ve always known you were here.”

“It’s fine.”

I sighed heavily. If there was one thing I knew for certain after all this time, I’m fine meant she was most certainly not fine. “I always want you, Clara.”

“Just leave it alone,” she said, swiping at her cheeks. She quickly hustled to get her things put away, while I was trying to figure out how to resuscitate what was left of our love life.

It seemed like no matter what I did, I was always in the wrong. I let her get more sleep because she was so damn tired, but all that did was cause a rift between us. And now that she was dressed like that, walking in front of me like a goddamn dream, it was wrong to want her. I didn’t know which way was up or how to get back in her good graces.

So, I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. And as I went downstairs, I realized that not only had I pissed her off, but I was also highly unlikely to get any dinner tonight.

I slammed the hammer against the nail, hitting it a lot fucking harder than I needed to. Replays of our fight were in my head all through the night, making it impossible to sleep. Not to mention, the couch wasn’t all that comfortable.

“Is there a reason you’re trying to kill the nail?” Jeff asked, eyeing me warily as he approached.

I ignored him, choosing instead to grab another nail and slam it into the frame. But I was so fucking tired, so distracted, that I missed the nail completely and smashed my thumb beneath the heavy weight of the hammer.

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted, throwing my hammer across the room, ignoring the way it crashed into something glass.

Cradling my thumb in my other hand, I stomped into the torn-up kitchen, grabbing an ice pack out of the freezer. Both my sons strode in, looking at me like I was crazy.

“What?” I snapped.

“Nothin’,” Liam shrugged. “It’s just not like you to do something as stupid as hitting your own damn thumb. Why aren’t you using the nail gun?”