He came up short when I crossed my arms and shook my head. “You should have thought of that before you worked behind my back.” I softened my voice and continued, “You were supposed to be my boyfriend. You could have told me.”
“I didn’t know if I could count on you!” he roared, and I realized from his response that I had pushed too far. “You HATED me when I walked into your classroom. I understand why and we put that behind us, but I had to do what was best for the business and what was best for us. How the fuck was I supposed to go to you with this?”
“Don’t blame me!” I shook my head. Everything he was saying was true and I wanted to forget about it all, to let things go back to the way they had been, but I couldn’t. This needed to be said. “WE should have decided what was best for the business, Marcus. WE should have decided what was best for US.” I wasn’t shouting, but I wasn’t speaking at a normal level either.
“Once I realized my mistake, I tried like hell to fix it!” Marcus countered. I could feel the defeat pouring off him. “Don’t shut me out, Felicity.”
“We are business associates only, Marcus, and with that, we should get on with our day.” I pointedly glanced down at my watch and took the moment to blink my eyes. The tears would not fall right now—I wouldn’t allow it. “We have an important first day with our new partners,” I continued. “They are here to oversee things and report back to their boss. Let’s impress the hell out of them.” I followed it up with a weak smile.
Marcus snorted and shook his head. “So be it. But know this: I’m not done fighting for us. I claimed you as mine, city slicker. You have no choice but to accept me.”
Then he left. I sat down hard on my chair and buried my face into my hands. What had I done? Did I just let the anger break us apart…again?