Page 40 of I Never Stopped Loving You

I need to know the name of every person she’s ever been with so I can kill them. No one’s allowed to know what my little rabbit feels like. No one but me.

*Ding*

Her phone goes off in her purse, and it’s like everything she was about to say goes flying out the window. She pulls away to grab her phone and scowls down at it.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

I definitely don’t want to rip the phone from her hand and whip it across the room for interrupting us…I wouldn’t do that…Fuck! What was she going to say? Goddammit.

“Yeah. Jenna just texted me. Apparently, my earlier text failed, so she’s been worried about me. I think I should probably get home.”

No.

No, no, no.

Not yet. The night’s still young. Sort of. Fuck. I can’t let tonight end. Not yet. Not after that kiss.

“Are you sure? She did say you could stay out until three. We could go back to my place for a bit,” I rush out.

Fuck. I fucked up. I can see it on her face. The small shift from desire to fear. Why? Why would she fear me?

“I can’t tonight. Maybe another night,” she says as she takes a step back.

If I push her too fast, she might decline the job too, and I can’t have her doing that. No. I need her close now that she’s back in my life. I can’t have her out of my sight. I’ll lose my fucking mind.

“Okay. If that’s what you want, Willow. I’ll take you home.”

I hold out her coat for her to put on, then take her hand and start walking toward the exit.

God fucking dammit, Noah. You pushed too fast. You shouldn’t have kissed her. Not yet. What is wrong with you?

“I had an amazing night tonight,” she says as I open her door for her and let her slide in.

“Me too.”

When I get into the driver’s seat, I can feel the change in the energy between us. Damn it. What do I do?

We drive in complete silence. She hasn’t even looked over at me, just staring out the window. The moonlight trickling in contrasts against the soft red neon glow of my interior ambiance lighting. The colors dance across her skin, taunting me. Teasing me and rubbing in my face at how badly I just fucked up.

I need to try to fix this.

“So, have you made your decision?” I ask as we pull onto her road.

“Yes. I’ll be in on Tuesday for the second interview. I want things done correctly. I don’t want this night to sway the decision either way.”

“You know you already have the job, right? I need you…”

She finally looks over at me again, and I know I have to reword what I said.

“I need you on my team. Based on your resume, I know you’ll be a perfect fit for our firm. You’re going to be a badass in the courtroom.”

“Thanks,” she softly laughs, but it isn’t the same as before. It sounds forced now.

“No need to thank me. It’s the truth.”

I pull into her driveway and turn off the car. We sit in an uncomfortable silence for what seems like an hour but is barely thirty seconds.

“Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?”