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There’s no trace of warm, fuzzy feelings coming from Micah. He flings open the door to my car the instant he hears me press the unlock button.
This sure gets his point across. He wants me gone. Immediately.
I was so stupid to show up here with no warning. “Is this going to be a problem for you?”
He scans the street. “It’s not great.”
“I’m sorry that you felt like you had to get involved.”
His blue eyes are icy when they find me. “Of course I had to get involved. Did you think I was just going to stand back and watch that prick grab you by the throat?”
“I’m sure he was all talk.”
Micah hisses through his teeth. “That’s the problem with you, Tess. You think you can handle things that are way over your head.”
I throw my purse in the car and try to keep my temper from rising. “If you’re talking about Pierce, that’s a low blow.”
“Hey, I’m not saying it’s your fault or even that it’s fucking fair. But you need to learn when to ask for help or to just back the fuck off.”
“Look who’s talking. When doyouever back off, Micah?”
He shakes his head with disgust. “Don’t pretend you’re stupid. Look at you and look at me. We’re not exactly the same. I can take any man apart with my bare hands. What are you going to do, smack him in the shoulder with your high heel and make a run for it?”
“Thank you for the lesson in chauvinism.”
“Christ.” He rips off one of his gloves. “I’m the bad guy for warning you about reality. My point is, you’re a five-foot-tall female with zero self defense skills.”
“I’m five foot one.”Brilliant comeback, Tessie.
Micah laughs at me. “Yeah, that extra inch will just make the Halligans of the world withdraw in terror.”
We’re falling back into our old bickering patterns. That’s the last thing I want to do.
He crosses his arms over his bare, sexy chest. He hasn’t shaved in a few days and the dark scruff of an early beard covers his jaw. “Why are you here, anyway?”
“I was in the neighborhood scouting rally locations and thought I’d stop by to say hello.”
He laughs again. “Never run for office. You’re such a shitty liar.”
Like I don’t know that.
Anyway, I’d rather not beat around the bush. I’m not good at it. “I thought you might want to go see a movie, get something to eat, hang out, I don’t know.”
A ripple of surprise pleats his forehead. “I’m not looking for distractions when I have a fight on the horizon.”
The heat in my cheeks is unpleasant, feeling too much like the threat of imminent humiliation. “Noted. You are busy hitting other men and don’t want to take a break.”
His expression migrates to a full blown scowl. “Don’t know why you’re surprised. You want your pussy eaten out on the regular? I’m on the job. But if you need couch time and companionship, go borrow Charlotte’s puppy.”
I shouldn’t be shocked. Here’s Micah saying horribly rude, Micah-type things. The fault is mine. I’ve misinterpreted our time together as something more meaningful than casual sex. To him, that’s all it was.
And I’m a big, fat fucking fool.
Or, more accurately in his eyes, I’m a short, helpless fool, only good for fucking.
My breath stalls. The tightening in my throat warns of impending disaster. If I stand here and continue this argument, I’ll do something I swore many years ago I’d never again do in front of Micah Lyonne.
I’ll cry.
