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Funny how he hadn’t figured out that he loved her or that she alone could heal him until Liam had stolen her away.
“Did you or did you not actively avoid conversations you’d find uncomfortable?” Liam asked.
“I did.” She sent him a sad, penitent stare. “But I didn’t mean to shut you out.”
Liam leaned over the table, his face turning foreboding. “You refused to tell me about your argument with Hammer just before Thanksgiving. You gave me some cockamamie story that it was about the menu.”
“We did talk about it,” she offered.
“That wasn’t what we argued about.” Hammer scowled.
She sighed in defeat. “I know.”
Liam grabbed her chin and redirected her. “So do I. And instead of being honest, what did you do?”
“I tried to be close to you. And you didn’t want my affection.” The hurt in her voice was unmistakable. Her lower lip trembled.
Hammer caught Liam’s gaze. His friend looked as confused as he felt.
“No,” Liam corrected. “You tried to end the conversation with sex. Frankly, that’s how you ended a lot of arguments.”
Fingers wrapped around the edge of the table, Hammer fought for his temper. Juliet had used that tactic on him so often. He’d fallen for it just about every fucking time, and look where that had led. He took in air between his teeth, resisting the urge to rail. But there was no goddamn way he would allow Raine to open her body to avoid doing the same with her heart.
Raine blinked. “You were angry, and I knew it, Liam. I wanted to soothe you. I needed your reassurance. Your touch is one way I could feel your caring.”
Really? That’s what she thought? Hammer released his grip on the table. He’d seen Juliet use her body to end conversations. But he’d never seen Raine use her wiles in that way. Sure, she’d tried to seduce him once, but he’d been dead asleep. She hadn’t wrapped her lips around his cock to stop a fight. When he’d all but fucked her in the bar, she hadn’t tried to stop the argument. In fact, she’d done her best to walk away. Maybe Liam had assumed that she’d meant to distract him and he’d mistaken her intent?
Maybe. But Hammer intended to make himself very clear either way. “Listen to me, Raine. You will never, ever use your body to sway either of us from asking you questions, prying you open, or digging in your head. If you need reassurance, you will ask for it, not lose your clothes and rub up against us. Is that crystal fucking clear? This is not up for negotiation.”
Raine stared, blinked, clearly confused. “Okay. I didn’t mean to distract Liam that day, just…” She sighed. “I can argue with you, and I know that no matter how angry you are, since it’s your club, you’re not going to leave. Besides, you like a good argument. Liam isn’t the same. He seemed genuinely upset, and I hated that.”
Hammer growled. “You think I enjoy arguing with you?”
She looked up at him as if the truth were obvious. “It’s your foreplay, and since we rarely did anything else… I mean, if you hadn’t liked it, you wouldn’t have picked so many fights.”
“You’re wrong.” Hammer all but lunged at her. “Picking a fight and pissing you off was the only way you’d stop protecting yourself and give me the truth.”
“And maybe I picked fights because it was the only way I could get you to pay attention to me.” She pursed her mouth and sent him a little frown. “I still think you liked arguing with me. It was difficult not to notice you were always hard.”
“That’s my constant state around you, fight or no.”
Liam cleared his throat. “So you didn’t mean to distract with sex. All right. But the truth is, you tried everything else to avoid telling me why you argued with Hammer.”
Then she cast those blue eyes back to Liam. “If I told you about the argument, I would’ve had to tell you how late my period was.”
“And you thought that if I knew I’d leave you, right?”
“Yes.”
“Even after I said I wouldn’t run out?”
“But you did,” she argued, tears filling her eyes.
“Am I standing here now?” he challenged. “Have I gone anywhere?”
She sighed. “No.”
“I uncollared you, love, not because I wanted to leave you, but because you were never truly with me.”
Raine fought against her bonds, straining to get off the table. Her legs flailed and she lurched up from the surface as much as her ropes allowed.
Hammer thrust a fist in her hair and tugged, jerking her face to his. “Stop. When you fight the ropes, Raine, you’re fighting us.”
“Don’t do this,” she sobbed.
“Don’t avoid our questions,” Hammer growled. “There’s no right or wrong answer, just the truth.”
She cut a glance to Liam, looking both accusing and hurt. “I told you. I tried. You expected more than I knew how to give. You scared me to death.”
