Page 56 of Give In

I’d have almost thought he was talking to someone else had it not been for the stubborn look he skewered me with, just daring me to argue.

“Wait. What?”

“Do you remember how to get there?”

I shook my head. “Why can’t we talk here?”

Caine held out his hand. “Let me see your phone, and I’ll put my address in.”

“I don’t have GPS.”

He arched an eyebrow, assuming I was lying. “Unless you want everyone to hear, I’d suggest we talk in private.”

I may not have been a hostage, but the tip of never going to a second location seemed solid. “Why don’t we take some time and talk tomorrow?”

Or never.

His eyes narrowed as he prowled toward me, trapping me against the wall, just out of view of the mostly opened door. “Is there something about me, Eden, that makes you think you can play me?”

“Uhh, no?”

“Then do you have GPS?

Embarrassment burned my cheeks, and I hated it. Hated him. Hated myself for not really hating him. “I… don’t have enough data on my plan to use it.”

His jaw clenched and ticked even as his eyes softened. Backing away, he went to his desk and pulled out a pad of paper and pen. He wrote quickly before tearing the page out and handing it to me.

I looked at the step-by-step directions written in his masculine scrawl.

“If you’re not there by—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I deepened my voice and mocked, “Be there when I say, or I’ll come find you.”

“Would it fucking kill you to just once do what I say without the attitude or arguments?”

I shrugged. “Maybe not, but why risk it?”

I may have been ballsy enough to poke the bear, but I wasn’t crazy enough to stick around to see what he did about it.

Moving fast, I headed for the door, ignoring his muttering that was filled with words like ‘spank’ and ‘red assed’.

Just like I ignored the heat that shot through me.

I’m so fucked… up.

Chapter Thirteen

Dance Naked in the Rain

Eden

For the entirety of the trip to Professor Caine’s, I tried to convince myself to keep driving. In my head, it was just me and the open road until I eventually landed in a nearly deserted coastal town. The town, of course, had all the necessities, like a coffee shop, a smattering of restaurants, a bookstore, and a bakery. Plus, there were hunky men who served cocktails on the beach.

Unfortunately, I had nothing packed, which meant even if I did find such a paradise, I’d smell fairly rank. Whatever money I had would need to go toward clothes and not generous tips for said hunks.

Beyond that… Okay, there were still a number of flaws with that plan. Most pressing, however, was that Iwantedto go to Professor Caine’s. Iwantedto hear what he had to say.

I needed to see which way our dysfunctional pendulum was swinging that day.

---