Revved (Axle Alley Vipers)(43)

Shoving aside the toilet paper blocking his way, he unlocked the door, letting it swing open. When she stood rooted to the spot, he gave her a gentle push. “In you go.”

Head down, she walked into his living room like a petulant child, one that didn’t want to admit she was wrong despite the glaring evidence. “Is this gonna take long?” she muttered.

“Sit your ass down.”

Surprisingly, she did as he said, though she scowled at him, throwing a shitload of attitude his way. “I’m sitting. Now what?”

“Now you talk to me, like you should have done when you saw me with Nina outside her hotel instead of coming to my place and messing shit up.”

She shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”

He arched a brow. Was she for real?

She grumbled something under her breath and crossed her arms. “Okay. God. I was wrong. I admit it. Sorry, whatever.”

Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was nowhere near as calm as she pretended to be, not at all. And as hard as he tried, he couldn’t get a handle on her mood, what she was thinking.

He took a step closer. “Why are you freaking out right now? Have I given you any reason to be afraid of me?”

“No.”

“Then what is it? Why the attitude? What do you think’s happening here?”

She turned away, stared out the window. “Just get it over with.”

“Get what over with?” She was confusing the shit out of him.

Her gaze snapped back. “End it. Finish whatever the hell we’ve been doing here. You got what you wanted, right? Me in your bed. Now you’re done with me. There’s no need to pretend that you want to carry this further. I’ve even given you an easy out. I smashed your window. Your place looks like Frosty the Freakin’ Snowman took a dump on it. Doesn’t that piss you off?”

Something inside his chest coiled tight. “What did you just say?” His voice came out rough, pure gravel.

“Doesn’t that piss you off?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. The other thing.”

She swallowed, that slender throat working. “I said a lot of things. You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”

“I got what I wanted, and I’m done with you?” In the past? Any other woman? Yeah, he would have been done. He would have walked away without a backward glance.

But none of those women had been Rusty West.

Her gaze finally met his, full of challenge. “That’s the truth isn’t it?”

She was exquisite, full of fire and attitude, talented as hell. Yet he realized in that moment she was so insecure, so afraid that she wasn’t worth the effort, that she’d decided to push him away rather than risk getting hurt. She saw him with another woman and immediately thought the worst, thought that he could move on to the next and not look back.

He’d figured out early on that wouldn’t be possible with Rusty. Tonight he also realized she could never know about his plan to try to take her business from her. If she ever found out, she’d never forgive him. Never trust him again. As tough as she tried to act, it was just that, an act. She was fragile, needed to be treated with care. It was there, shining from her eyes, the wariness, the disappointment. The pain.

She actually believed the bullshit she’d just spouted.

Like hell he would let her go. He thought he could, but it was too late for that. “No. It’s not the fucking truth.”

She actually flinched. “What?”

“I told you what I wanted. I laid it all out for you. I told you I wanted to give us a shot. Do I have to go over it again? Is there something that you didn’t understand?”

“No. But I…”

“What? You thought I was lying to get you in my bed? That I’d screw around on you without a second thought?”

“I…ah…”

Possessiveness reared up inside him, a dark energy simmering just below the surface as his next words formed in his head. “Someone hurt you. I can see it. You show me every time you clam up, try to push me away. Who hurt you, baby?”

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No…that’s not it…”

“Tell me.” Taking the seat beside her, he hauled her into his lap, then gripped her chin, tipping her face up to his. “I’m not playing with you, Rusty. No one reacts the way you just did without some shit in your past. I know that better than anyone. I want us to move forward, but I need to know what I’m dealing with here. I need to know how to show you I’m in this for the long haul.”

“You are?” she whispered.

“What the fuck have I been telling you?”

She rested her hand on his bicep. “Right. I’m sorry.”