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“No,” I said sharply. Too sharply. I cleared my throat and tried again. “You should head home.” The words came out as flimsy as my no.
Mischief and a hint of satisfaction sparked in his eyes. He knew me too well. I was uncomfortable as hell being alone with him, because I didn’t trust myself. All I wanted to do was let him make me forget all this shit, but I knew it would only make things worse.
“Have you forgotten we’re a team?” His deep voice wove its way through me straight to where I didn’t need him to be.
“Are we? Because if we were in so much trouble financially, a heads-up would have been nice.” The mechanism to throw up my defenses was my natural way of protecting myself. I had to.
His chin dropped to his chest, and I had the urge to run my fingers through his dark hair. The statement hadn’t been fair. We operated together, no one person at fault, yet I couldn’t find a way to open my mouth and apologize.
“He didn’t say why after I left?”
I spun and looked out at the lights of Houston. “Just that it had to be done.”
Silence engulfed us, both seemingly lost in thoughts of where we went wrong.
He rolled up the list and tapped it on his palm a few times. “These aren’t going to call themselves.”
“It’s toolate to call anyone else. We’ll finish up tomorrow.” Easton stood and stretched his arms above his head.
Great. It had been bad enough doing this two days before the holiday. Christmas Eve would be worse. I slung back the remaining whiskey from the bottle we’d broken out an hour ago after a few particularly bad conversations. Easton had barely touched his drink.
I stood too and stuck my laptop into my bag. A hint of red silk in the side pocket caught my eye, mocking me, and I quickly closed the tote.Now isn’t the time.
“I need your truck.” The words came out more harshly than I intended.
“Then I’ll need a ride to Mom and Dad’s.”
Damn it. That meant more time alone with him.
“Can’t you get a car service?”
“Not sure.” He slung his suit jacket over one shoulder. “Are you afraid to be alone with me, Heartbreaker?”
I ignored the shiver that rolled through me when he used the nickname he’d called me for as long as I could remember, one I’d never understood the meaning of and never dared to find out.
This man constantly kept me off balance, something I not only disliked, but couldn’t allow. Especially not now.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we spent the last few hours together.” Tonight was the most time I’d spent alone with him in months. It had been a test of my will, and I couldn’t push that any more than I had to. I gestured around the room. “Besides, I need to pack.”
His gaze followed the motion as if he were just now noticing there was anything else beyond me. Lines creased his forehead. He tossed the suit jacket he’d just picked up back on the chair.
“You definitely owe me a ride to my parents’ house now.”
“I sure as hell don’t see why,” I argued as I swiped my keys off my desk. “Just take my car.” I launched the ring at him, and he caught it with one hand.
“This feels awfully domestic, don’t you think?” The resentment behind the statement had regret pinching the back of my brain. It hadn’t always been this way. Sure, we argued. That’s what two people who always thought their way was the right way were bound to do. But something had changed between us. I’d changed things. For as much as I preferred to avoid Easton Carter at all costs, I hated the ever-present undercurrent of hostility.
He stalked around the piece of furniture that had been a safe barrier separating us. His body heat warmed one side of me. He placed a firm hand on my hip and turned me so we were face to face. I was tall but still had to tilt my head back to look at him.
“You’ve been drinking.” He picked up the near-empty decanter of whiskey. “I’ll be damned if I let you get behind the wheel of a car.”
“You just asked me for lift. And you’ve been drinking too,” I protested.
“I took two sips. Plans change.”
“We don’t have any plans.”
His fingers dug into my hip. I planted my hands on his chest and shoved, but it wasn’t enough to move him.
