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“It seems that way, yes. I think we both need to cool down.”
“Don’t speak for me!”
I took a deep breath and reminded myself that he was very young. This was exactly what I’d been afraid of by getting myself involved with such a young man. He was going to be nothing but trouble, and I’d known it from the first time I saw him.
“I think we should both calm down a bit before we continue this conversation.”
“You’re not the boss of me. Why aren’t we going to talk about this now? I’m upset now, and I want to hear what you have to say.” He stamped his foot and added—just in case I hadn’t gotten the message, "Now!”
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. “Do you want to try to talk? Or just shout at me all evening? I told you I’m tired, and I wanted to relax a few minutes. I’ve had a hard day and I don’t want to argue about this or anything else.”
“Oh, you’ve had a hard day. Well, what about me? I’m the one who has to worry about getting pregnant!”
Honestly, I was feeling a little hurt by this attitude, and I didn’t know what to do about it or how to react. He was right, of course. He was the one facing the possibility of pregnancy, but did that mean we couldn’t talk about this situation quietly and rationally? If Jax didn’t want me or the kind of relationship I was offering him, then was I wasting my time? I didn’t care about having children right away either, and I’d never force him into such a thing. But I didn’t see much sense in bemoaning something that might be inevitable. Something that simply came along with the territory of being a Dragon omega, and with being the true mate of an Alpha.
I never wanted to force anyone or make anyone feel an obligation to me. Hell, I was crazy about him, but maybe we were just too different for this whole thing to work, and true mates be damned. I knew what all the old stories said, but like Jax, I didn’t like the idea of being a slave to our natures. Just because the legends said it was impossible to live without a true mate didn’t necessarily mean it was true.
I needed some air—and some time to think about all this. I strode toward the door, and he flung himself in front of me, putting both hands against my chest and shoving me backward.
“Don’t youdarewalk out on me!”
As always when he touched me, I was flooded with emotion. Lust, primarily, but also affection and even tenderness. I never wanted him to be hurt or feel upset in any way—even though I was obviously the one who was upsetting him at this moment. Yet these feelings were accompanied by a strong feeling of resentment for the situation too.
Was I supposed to simply cave in on every argument and agree to whatever he wanted of me just to appease him because I was so crazy about him? Wouldn’t that inevitably lead to more resentment, more irritation and ultimately more arguments? I needed to put some space between us. Reaching for his waist, I simply picked him up and put him to one side.
And yes, I had to fight the urge to pull him close to me. I had to fight my instincts not to say whatever he wanted to hear so he wouldn’t be upset, and all I really wanted was to take him in my arms and soothe his feelings. But I gritted my teeth and didn’t do it.
I stopped on the threshold, took a deep breath and looked back at him. Those big, gorgeous eyes filling with tears nearly undid me. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow, Jax,” I said, my voice sounding like I was being strangled by briars.
It wasn’t good to feel this much for someone. I had to get out of there before I swept him up in my arms and took him to bed. And damn the condoms and damn his doctor!
I didn’t know what to do with these mixed-up feelings for him and there really didn’t seem to be any good answers—except to get the hell out of there before I said or did something I’d regret. I rushed outside to the car Kyle had driven me there in. It was the only car in the driveway, because once we’d arrived, I had sent Josh home, expecting to be there all night. Kyle had been playing on his phone and looked startled when I wrenched open the door.
“Drive. Just take me home, Kyle. Now!”
Chapter Ten
Jax
After he left, I threw myself on the couch and dissolved into a storm of tears. What had I done? I didn’t mean to drive him away with my stupid temper, but it seemed like I had. He had pushed me away. For the first time he’d acted as if he didn’t want my hands on him. It kind of devastated me.
The little imaginary devil on my shoulder, said—
Who cares if he goes? If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t have left you so upset. You’re better off without some self-important Alpha telling you what to do!
Then the angel on the other side said—
Don’t listen to him. Dominic is handsome and generous and kind and-and wonderful. He seems to really care for you. And you’re the one who drove him away!
I reached for my cell phone and began to punch in his number but stopped halfway through. He had obviously left because he didn’t want to be around me, so I needed to respect that, even though it hurt way more than I would have expected. I hadn’t known him long enough to feel this sense of loss, surely. It had to be hurt pride and not because I truly had any feelings for him.
Tears began to prick my eyes again, because I knew I was lying to myself. Maybe it was because of biology or something to do with Dragons in particular, but I felt more than just friendship for Dominic. Much more, if I were honest, even though this was so new. And I didn’t want to lose him.
I should give him some space to think things through though, and I knew I needed time to do the same.
I didn’t hear from him the rest of that evening, but he’d said he would call me. He’d said he would speak to me “tomorrow,” so I hoped he’d call the next day. Unless he didn’t want anything else to do with me and thought I was just too much trouble.
I put that thought out of my mind and went to work at the shop the next day. I was busy too, because I had to take the food trays that morning to the studio. Hailey had gone on another audition, this time at an event planning service, calledInventive Events. They had a big wedding scheduled and the bride wanted to audition singers. Hailey had a nice voice and had sung at a few weddings in the past—plus the money was pretty good. So, she would be gone until mid-morning. That left Damon alone in the shop, but I’d left specific instructions about prepping for the lunch crowd, and he didn’t have to do much before I returned.
