Page 49 of Fall Apart

My drive homefrom work on Wednesday is a blur. The plant manager got in my face today, making a snide, condescending remark after I questioned him on a few issues with their shift schedules and vendor preferences. I’ve heard them all.

Doll, honey, sweetheart.

Just relax. Calm down. Smile more.

I’ve been doing this since you were in diapers.

Nothing they would ever say to a man. Never mind that I’m there to clean up their mess. Never mind that I’m right.

As Jessica would say, I wentFull Lizzyand put him in his place.

But between that and the way my roommate andfriendhas been a ghost the last few days I’m already on edge. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough at the end of the day.

When I walk into the house from the garage, to my surprise, Clay is sitting at the counter looking at something on his laptop. He’s already wearing his glasses. I have to admit that the rough, muscular, tattooed man with the heavy, dark rimmed glasses is alook. If I wasn’tso pissed off at him right now, I’d probably just stand here and enjoy the view. But not today.

As soon as he sees me, he starts to get up, presumably to go to his office and continue to pretend I don’t exist.

“Oh no, no way, Clay!” I stomp towards him, not bothering to hang my keys or take off my shoes. I throw my purse on the counter and get right into his face. “You’re not going to keep doing this.”

He looks irritated. I still don’t get it! I know he said it wouldn’t happen again and that’s fine. But we were being genuinely friendly before that. I enjoy being around him. I want that back. He owes me an answer on why we can’t be like that again. I knowthatnight was so intimate, so deep and sexual. But I still want that connection, even without the physical part.

“Doing what?” he says, looking equally confused and startled.

I step towards him, poking him in the chest, that hard, muscular chest. “Acting weird since the other night after we said we’re good. Pretending that I don’t exist. Ignoring me.”

“You think I’m ignoring you?” His voice is a low growl. He steps towards me and towers over me, crowding my space. “You think I couldeverignore you, princess?”

My hand falls. I try to step away and give myself space, but I back up against the kitchen island.

“You’ve been acting like it ever sincethatnight. You’re almost acting like you did right after Roxy’s.” I stare into his eyes and they’re so intense, so focused on me I can feel my skin heat and flush. My mouth goes dry and I lick my lower lip. His nostrils flare and his eyes track the movement.

“You’reeverywhere, Lizzy.” He steps towards me and I have to put my elbows on the marble island to prop myself up. “You’re in my house.” He leans forward and puts a hand on the island next to mine. “You’re in my thoughts. You’re in my dreams.” He takes his other hand and tilts my chin up towards him, forcing me to maintain thisinsane level of eye contact that I feel in my core. “I couldn’t ignore you even if I wanted to. You’re all I can think about. All the damn time.”

I watch as his chest heaves and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “That’s not how it feels. You’re acting like you can’t bear to be around me - like I’m such a burden to you and you want me back at my condo,” I say, not flinching from his presence. I swear it looks like a vein in his neck under that beautiful rose tattoo is going to pop and I can hear his heart pounding. The look on his face is pure torment, like my words pained him.

“You’re not a burden. You’re anything but a burden. I thought I made it very clear what I think about you. Ishowedyou.” One side of his lips quirk into a hint of smile, showing off the dimple on that side. If I wasn’t already so flushed and worked up, I can’t imagine the shade of red my cheeks would turn from the thought ofthat night.

“You have an awfully funny way of showing someone they’re not a burden. Maybe you could remind me what you think of me?” I say with a shaky, muted voice. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I expected to happen by getting in his face and poking the bear, theliteral bearI know is tattooed on his chest.

He exhales a long, frustrated sigh. “Can we not? I’m not used to having people in my space all the time. I’m not used to new people in my life. I don’t handle distractions well.”

Distractions? Am I a distraction to him? That thought washes away when I breathe in, his leather and cedar scent reminding me of falling asleep in his arms. I stand tall, looking right at him. He’s not going to ignore me. He’s going to tell me what’s wrong, whether he wants to or not. I am not stepping down.

“Why don’t you like people in your space?” I look towards my hand on the counter and see my keys and grin. “Because they’ll do something like this?” I flick my wrist and bat the keys on to the floor.My grin grows watching him track the motion and flinch at the sound of them hitting the floor.

“You really do want to make me snap, don’t you?” he snarls.

“Why? What would that look like?” I tease, pleased at the response I’m getting. He doesn’t say a word. He just continues to stare into my soul with those eerily hardened emerald eyes. I look at my other hand and see my phone sitting there. I flick my wrist and watch him finally come undone when my phone hits the ground and slides across the floor.

He closes the final inches between us, pressing himself against me. I can feel the warmth of his muscular body as he leans over me, pushing my back against the island. “What the fuck do you want, Lizzy?”

I raise one hand, cupping his cheek, relishing the feeling of his stubble against my soft hand, remembering what it felt like between my thighs. I lean towards him, bringing my lips to his ear, feeling that stubble against my cheek, and whisper. “You.” I run my finger over the open neckline of his henley and down his sternum and muscular chest.

The intense, focused look explodes into something different, something scorching and animalistic. It’s like that evergreen forest in his eyes ignites into a raging wildfire I can feel like a brand on my skin.

“Fuck it.” His voice is raw and gravelly.

He moves in a flurry, grabbing me by my hips and lifting me onto the counter like a rag doll, bringing me eye to eye with him. I wrap my hands around the back of his neck, startled by his strength. He cups the back of my neck and fists my ponytail, pulling my head back and baring my neck to him. His mouth crashes to mine and his other hand roams my body, pulling us closer.

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