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Gah … everyone looked at me, and I grabbed Lance’s hand. “Let’s go. You can drop me at Matt’s.” I had no intention of going back to the farm and running into Ream tonight.
Lance politely nodded to everyone and said goodbye while I tapped my foot and tried to head for the door before Emily and Georgie could trap me in a snare of girl talk about Ream that I so wasn’t ready to talk about. Not with Lance around.
Lance took me back to the condo, although he’d suggested his place and I knew why; I felt the why while sitting on his lap.
He escorted me to the door where he pulled me into his arms. With the tip of his finger, he pushed my hair out of my eye. “You want to tell me what that was about?”
I leaned up against the door. “I told you, we had a thing.”
His brows rose. “Looked like more than a thing.”
“Not really. He was there when I needed him, and then we hooked up for a couple of nights. That’s it.”
“But he doesn’t think that’s it.”
I shrugged. “Ream’s … intense.” And I couldn’t stop thinking about him. All I saw was his face when he flipped over the table, the devastation, the rage, the pain. I wanted to take it all away.
“Listen, Kat. I like you. And I’m not scared of some ex who isn’t man enough to control his temper. But I’d like if we could step away from that to see if what we have is something more. After the gallery opening, I have a place in Vegas that I’d like to take you to for a few days.”
“Lance.” Shit, I hope he wasn’t going to cancel my show. “I think it’s better if we stop seeing one another. I like you, but I need to sort some stuff out.”
His brows rose with surprise. Then he stepped back and scowled. It was the first time I’d seen him kind of pissed off, and it made me really uncomfortable. “With Ream.” A shiver coursed down my spine at his tone, and I put my hand in my purse and searched for my keys. “That’s not the best idea, Kat.”
“Whatever I decide to do, it’s my decision, not yours.” God, why was I suddenly pissed off? Because Ream was fucking things up for me. I’d met a good guy and now I was breaking it off with him because why? … Because Ream couldn’t let me go?
No, it was because I couldn’t let Ream go and I needed to do that before I could be with Lance.
I found the keys and turned around putting them in the lock. Lance’s hand came down on my shoulder. “You going back to him?”
I stiffened and my hand gripped the key hard, the metal pinching into my hand. “No, but what Ream and I do is none of your business.”
He put his hands on my waist, and I wanted to shrug them off. “You are my business.”
I turned to face him again and suddenly I didn’t like him very much with the way he was confronting me. “Are you going to cancel my show?”
“No. But I wish you’d think about this before deciding. Do you really want to be with a man like him? Jealous. Uncontrollable. A rock star that has women all over him. He’ll never be faithful. He’ll cheat on you the second he goes out of town.” I flinched at the thought. Seeing all the girls around him tonight had put that thought in my head. Cheating was a deal breaker. “You obviously aren’t together for a reason.” His eyes narrowed and his fingers dug into my side. “You choose this, you’ll regret it.”
“Wow, Lance. That sounded like a threat.” I pushed his hands off my waist. “I’ll see you at the show. And then I’ll move my art to another gallery.” I’d been wrong about Lance. He had a side to him I hadn’t seen or anticipated. Maybe he wasn’t so nice and safe after all.
“That’s not necessary, Kat.” He put his finger under my chin and stroked his thumb down my cheek. “Your face—gorgeous. I wish …” He sighed. “I really wanted this to work. Will you think about it? Take a couple of days?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t need time to think about things, Lance.” Especially after what he’d just said.
“A real shame, princess.” He turned and strode away.
I sagged against the door as I watched him walk past the elevators and push open the door to the stairwell. The door slammed shut behind him.
A part of me wanted to go running back to the bar, back to Ream, the part that still needed him like my next breath. But that meant a second chance at what could be a one way road to hurt and devastation. I had a life that didn’t have a place or time for second chances. Shit, I was already internally self-destructing.
I was thankful I had the condo to myself until Matt got back after the bar closed in a few hours. Plan of attack to numb the emotions—grab a big comfy blanket, make popcorn, and curl up on the couch and watch a silly romantic comedy.
I woke to the door rattling and stretched from my cramped position on the couch. Glancing at my phone on the table, I saw it was two in the morning, Matt must have asked Brett to close the bar and came home early. The TV was still blaring; I’d put it up loud to drown out our neighbor Neville’s music from next door. The guy loved classical and Friday and Saturday nights he let everyone know it. Matt never cared because he was at the bar late.
The door opened and I got up folding the blanket. “Bro, that crap that went down with Ream. Totally my fault, but I want it known before you go ‘on the burner,’ that I asked Lance to leave and he—”
A hand curled into the back of my neck and I tried to jerk away, but it happened so fast. The pressure increased and I was violently pressed forward. My head slammed into the wood coffee table. Agony tore through my head as I collapsed to the floor, my vision blurred and it felt like heated syrup dripped down my face. Hands grabbed me and I managed a half scream before I was picked up and thrown across the room. I hit the drywall hard, biting my tongue on impact. Blood filled my mouth then dripped from the corners of my lips.
