AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t think,” she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible. “You’ve decided. Thank you, Ethan. How very kind of you to figure all of this out without any input from me.”
He winced a little. “If you’ll just listen...”
“Now you’re ready to talk and I should just, what? Sit down and listen as you lay out your plans?”
“I didn’t say that...”
“Let me ask you, Ethan, do I get a vote in any of this?”
“Of course you get a vote,” he practically snarled, and came to a stop behind his desk, as if he needed that heavy piece of mahogany furniture as a barrier between them.
But only a few days ago it had been so much more than that.
“Well, that’s very democratic of you, Ethan.”
He frowned and watched her warily. “The words sound right, but the tone is off.”
“Good catch,” she said. “But the real question is, why didn’t you talk to me about this before you made up your new rules?”
He scrubbed one hand across his jaw. “It’s complicated.”
“No, it isn’t.” Sadie was frustrated and her fury was beginning to ease back down into extreme irritation. “For heaven’s sake, Ethan, it doesn’t have to be complicated unless you make it so. Whatever you’re thinking, just stop it.”
He laughed shortly. “Sure. I’ll stop thinking.”
“You overthink, Ethan. That’s the problem.” Shaking her head, Sadie stepped forward, laid both hands on the edge of the desk and said, “We had each other, right here.”
His eyes flashed.
“Why can’t you just let it be what it was?” she asked. “Two adults enjoying each other.”
“You said that then.”
“And will again tomorrow if I have to,” Sadie said, folding her arms across her chest again and giving him a hot stare. “And I probably will, because you don’t seem to be listening. I didn’t ask you for anything, Ethan, remember? You don’t owe me anything and I don’t need you to protect me from big bad you.”
He reached up and shoved both hands through his hair. “I don’t want this—whatever it is we’ve got going on here—getting messy.”
“It will.”
His head snapped up and his eyes fired.
She sighed. “Life gets messy, Ethan. It just happens. But relax. I won’t be crawling at your feet, begging for scraps of attention.”
“I never said you would,” he said in his own defense.
“And you’re perfectly safe from a proposal, too,” Sadie reassured him. “Trust me when I say you are not the man for me.”
He actually looked offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” she told him, “that I have a list of qualifications for the man I want and you only meet one of them.” She stopped, thought about the impromptu hot sex on the desk in the middle of the day and had to admit that he was not only sexy, but had proved himself to be adventurous, too. “Okay, two. But that’s not enough.”
“How many points are on this dubious list?” he asked, frowning.
“Five,” she said. “And two out of five is not nearly good enough for me. So believe me when I say you’re completely safe.”
“Great.” He was still frowning, and if anything, the offended expression on his features had deepened.
Not a bad thing, she told herself. Maybe it was good that Ethan find out he wasn’t the prime catch he thought he was.
“So, if you’re okay now, I’m going back to work.” She turned for the door and stopped. “You will be at the house tonight to interview Julie?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. And once you’ve completely recovered from this conversation, maybe we could try out a bed next time...”
She didn’t wait to hear his answer.
She didn’t need to.
She left and stood with her back to the closed door. The office was bustling, phones were ringing and fingers clacked on keyboards. But she wasn’t paying attention to any of it.
Instead, her mind was on the man she would soon be walking away from. Forever.
Seven
