Elle Kennedy
“I love your blowjobs, sweetheart, and you know it. But you can’t keep avoiding—” Before he could finish, the cordless phone on the coffee table began to ring.
Carson sat up with irritation then shot her a warning look. “Don’t even think about it, Holly.”
She got off his lap and started to reach for the phone. “I can’t not answer. What if it’s someone in my family? Or work?”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t answer it,” he muttered.
Ignoring him, she clicked the talk button and pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Holly, I have an emergency,” came her sister Caroline’s desperate voice.
A lump of resentment lodged in her throat. “What is it, Caroline?” Her sister didn’t get a chance to explain, because Carson had grabbed the phone from Holly’s hands. She let out a yelp of protest, but he was already speaking into the mouthpiece.
“Caroline?” he said, swatting Holly’s hands away as she tried to swipe the phone back. “I’m Carson…Holly’s boyfriend.”
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
He paused. “I know she didn’t mention it. It’s still fairly new…uh-huh….yep. So, what seems to be the problem, Caroline?”
Holly swallowed back her anger as she watched Carson listen to her sister’s response. How dare he? He had no right acting like a jerk and taking the phone from her like this.
“Really?” He nodded to himself. “Well, here’s what you’re going to do, sweetheart.
You’re going to knock on your super’s door and ask him to let him into your apartment.” He paused again. “No, Holly doesn’t need to be there for that. She’s very busy right now.”
Holly fumed at him, crossing her arms over her chest to cover her bare breasts.
“Well, tomorrow morning you can take a cab over here and get the spare keys you gave to Holly, and make copies of them. Your original set might turn up…” He sighed.
“Then change the locks if you think someone might find them, figure out your address 56
Heat of Passion
and let themselves into your apartment. How? A locksmith can do that for you.” He shook his head again. “No, Holly cannot change your locks for you. You can’t expect her to do everything for you, sweetheart… Hey, you know what, Caroline? I’ve got to go.
Holly and I are about to watch a movie. Call back when you’ve gotten into your apartment, okay?” Without saying goodbye, he hung up.
On her sister!
Holly watched as he nonchalantly placed the phone on the coffee table and turned to look at her. “Ready to watch the rest of that movie?” he asked pleasantly.#p#分页标题#e#
She didn’t answer. Fury bubbled in her stomach. “Why did you do that?” she demanded.
He shrugged. “Because I’m sick of watching your sexy ass slide through the front door every time one of them calls you up for help.”
“This isn’t your family, Carson. It’s mine. And what I choose to do for them isn’t your concern.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “She lost her apartment key, for God’s sake. It’s not the end of the world! And what I told her to do is what you wouldn’t have told her if you’d taken that call. You’d have hopped in your car and taken care of everything for her.”
“So?” she said defensively.
“So, it’s not your freaking job, sweetheart.” He looked exasperated. “Caroline is five years older—she should be taking care of you, not the other way around. She takes advantage of you. They all do.”
Discomfort filled her body. Although a part of her knew he was right—the part that had been feeling the same way for two years now—she still couldn’t let go of her anger.
So what if her family took advantage of her? They were still her family. Not his. And trying to stop her from taking care of them was presumptuous and selfish of him. This was Steve all over again, making demands on her, telling her to forget about everyone and everything else in her life and just focus on him. Well, she couldn’t do that.
“You shouldn’t have interfered,” she said coolly.
57
Elle Kennedy
Carson dragged one hand through his hair, looking frazzled. “I won’t apologize for it. It’s time you quit focusing all your energy on them.”
“And do what, focus it all on you?” she replied.
Before he could answer, she stumbled to her feet, suddenly very aware that they’d been conducting this entire argument while naked. Whirling around, she stomped down the hall to the bedroom, where she threw on some clothing.