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That sounded like fun. She might even do it just to see if he’d actually follow through with calling his buddies to do his dirty work.
He blinked again. “No. That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Too bad. I’d love to see the looks on the faces of the guys on your squad when you tell them you let a girl punch you and wouldn’t they please run over to arrest her.”
Bryan took a step back and it was every bit a retreat, whether he realized it or not. “You wouldn’t punch me.”
“Won’t I?” She swept him with a scorn-filled glance, seeing him for the coward he was. The power of it roared through her, sweeping away cobwebs she’d long grown accustomed to. “I’ve been in America, as I’m sure your sources informed you. I learned a lot of things about how to protect myself. I wouldn’t be too sure what I would and wouldn’t do, if I were you.”
And it wasn’t even a total lie. She had learned a lot about how to pick up her pieces. No matter what, Warren had renewed her faith in herself. And given her the ability to talk down to her former abuser, apparently.
It was not her fault he’d hit her. Not her fault he’d been jealous and possessive.
And she was not taking his crap ever again.
“This is not over,” he warned as he stepped back once again. “We’re not over. You’re mine and—”
She slammed the door and locked it. Sure, he could probably bust through the wood frame easily, but she didn’t think he would. She’d stood up to him with stellar results, the likes of which even she couldn’t believe.
Warren had given her back her life in more ways than one.
“Tilda,” Bryan called through the door. “I—”
“Go away, you piece of garbage. I have my phone in my hand and I will call the authorities to have you picked up for trespassing.” It wasn’t an idle threat. Surely there would be someone on the Victoria police force who wasn’t in Bryan’s pocket and would be willing to uphold the law. She’d keep dialing until she found that person.
It went quiet outside and she peeked through the curtain to see Bryan slinking back to the gutter he’d come from. The victory was a little hollow but it was still a victory.
She ate dinner with her mum and didn’t think about Bryan at all. Until the next day, when he knocked on the door again while her mother was getting her hair done.
Marching to the entrance, she flung open the door.
“You can’t be here.” As she met the gaze of the man on her mother’s doorstep, her knees went weak.
Warren. Not Bryan. So not Bryan she couldn’t even process it.
“I know.” Warren held up his beautiful hands as if to ward her off, and why wouldn’t he? She’d practically attacked him before even getting the door open. “I should have called. I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s fine. I thought you were…someone else.” But on that note…she slid a once-over all the way down his body, drinking in his wrinkled slacks and the shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows. “Why are you here? You’re really here, right? This is not a figment of my overactive imagination?”
The caution eased from his face as he smiled. “Really here. I flew all night on Roz’s father’s private jet.”
Her mouth might have been hanging open. “Why?”
“Because that was the fastest way to get to Australia. And you,” he said simply, and everything else in the world melted away as she stared at him.
Her heart threw itself out of her chest and latched onto him greedily, lapping up every bit of his nearness.
“You told me to get on a plane,” she reminded him and pushed back the sudden desire to jump into his arms. Their horrible parting still sat in her stomach like a rock. “Only for you to follow me? You’re not making any sense.”
Clearly flustered, he ran his fingers through his hair, and that’s when she noticed he didn’t have his cell phone in either hand. Her well-trained eye didn’t locate it in either of his front pockets, either, which meant it must be charging in the long limo behind him. That or the apocalypse were the only two things she could think of that would pry his phone out of his hand.
“Only because I’m exhausted and all I can think about is how much I want to kiss you,” he said, and his small smile shouldn’t have warmed her as much as it did.
“Oh, I get it,” she said before he could say some more things that would make her forget how hopeless it was to think they could be together. “You came to Melbourne for a few days to micromanage the project. The idea of me handling all of it here at ground zero without you in the middle must have really freaked you out. Nice that you can combine your first love with a little side action, courtesy of your project manager.”
