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Without waiting for their assent, I continued the tour. They followed because I gave them no other choice. I pointed out every room they could use, figuring they could get themselves settled while I was at the club. “That’s my room at the end of the hall. Please refrain from going in there, but help yourself to the rest of the rooms.”
“Why? What are you hiding in there?” Ben questioned, his deep baritone laced with suspicion.
The ass. It would serve him right if I was hiding something scandalous.
“Well, Ben, I’m worried you might piss yourself when you see all the whips and restraints I have stocked on the walls.” I didn’t really have those things—at least, not out in the open. Not that I would ever tell him that, because Ben appeared hell-bent on making me pay penance for some made-up injustice. Or it could just be he didn’t care for strippers.
In my line of work, it happened. There were a lot of do-gooders who sneered at my profession. It was one of the reasons I was single. Most men couldn’t handle what I did for a living. I tried more times than I cared to count to have a normal relationship, and it always ended poorly. Men continued to be a grave disappointment.
The others laughed at my witty comeback. But not Ben. Those arctic blue eyes glared with unbridled fury. And that hard rock body of his was rigid with anger.
Ben didn’t back down as he chewed out. “You forget we’re SEALs, sweetheart. We’re the guys that give other men nightmares. There’s nothing that scares us.”
I snorted. This guy and his attitude. “Bullshit. I know one thing that scares the piss out of y’all.”
He drew himself up. All six feet of hard-bodied warrior. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
The others watched our exchange with rabid interest. Wyatt appeared ready to step in. But I didn’t need protecting. I’ve been protecting myself long enough without his or anyone’s help. “Monogamy.”
Ben chuckled darkly. “The fact that you don’t see the irony of your statement proves I was right about you.”
“Oh really? What assumptions have you made about me that you think are correct? Explain it to me like I’m five.”
“That’s enough, Ben,” Wyatt said, stepping forward and putting a restraining hand on his shoulder.
“No, let him speak. I want to hear his assumptions so I can stomp them into dust.” I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. I’d like nothing more than to kick his ass with it.
“Turning down Evan’s proposal proves it. He said you wouldn’t commit to one man. We might not be the best at monogamy, but you might want to take a long look in the mirror before damning us.”
I’d never cheated on a man I had dated. Although I could say with certainty that I had been treated as a side piece and dirty little secret for most of my life. “Did he tell you why I turned his proposal down?”
“All I know is you fucking broke Evan’s heart, and he was never the same. It’s likely why he—” Ben shook his head with a dark scowl.
Anger flashed through me at his insinuation. “Are you fucking serious right now? Are you actually accusing me of being the reason Evan killed himself?”
“Shoe fits,” Ben snapped.
I saw red. “Listen up, asshole. People turn down proposals all the damn time. You can look it up on Reddit. It’s a thing. I turned him down because marrying him wasn’t right for me. It doesn’t mean I didn’t love him. After that, things went south in our relationship, and I had to break it off. Now I’m sorry he’s dead, I really am, but if you think for one second it had anything to do with me, then you’re a fucking idiot.”
Ben snarled. Wyatt caught him before he could advance on me.
I glared at the five men in my hallway, in my home. “I have to run to the club and put paychecks into my girls’ mailboxes so they get them once their shifts tonight are over. You can divvy up the rooms as you see fit. And yes, I’m sure that you can stay here. But keep this asshole away from me.”
I shoved past them, shaking with rage. I had loved Evan. If he understood that loyalty and monogamy worked both ways, then I would have said yes to his proposal. But that man slept with anything in a skirt that gave him the time of day. Then played it off as if he couldn’t help himself. Evan had broken my heart and decimated my trust.
And I could never marry a man I didn’t trust.
4
Well, that went about as well as expected. After we moved our Harleys to one side of the driveway, I watched her leave the house without a backward glance.
I fucking seethed. My anger roiled with the need to drag her back here and go toe to toe with her until I alleviated my rage. But nothing short of resurrecting Evan from his early grave would lessen my anger.
The absolute last thing I wanted to do was stay in her house, not after that confrontation. But if I mentioned it to the guys, I’d never hear the damn end of it. That a woman who couldn’t weigh more than a buck twenty dripping wet and was easily half my size sent me running. I wouldn’t back down from my stance. And I certainly as fuck wouldn’t surrender. So we were at an impasse. I stood, staring out the window of the parlor at the empty space where the SUV had been parked.
Why had she been so difficult?
And more importantly, why the fuck was my blood humming after being in her orbit? Why was the first innocuous touch not enough by a longshot?
