Page 75 of Nothing to This
“Are we going to talk or ignore each other for another night?”
She opened her bedroom door and gestured him inside before following and closing the door so as not to disturb the kids.
“You’re a brave man initiating conversation with me tonight,” she hissed, finding it hard to restrain her anger.“What the hell did you think you were doing introducing your girlfriend to our daughter?I don’t care if you guys rekindled your engagement on Tuesday night, you should’ve spoken to me before doing it.”
“Gabby isn’t my girlfriend,” he snapped and leaped closer.
She raised a hand.“Keep your damn voice down.You should have let me meet her first.We should have had a conversation with the kids.We—”
“Gabby was at the event, just like two hundred other people.Yes, she spoke to Sky, but I didn’t introduce them, she introduced herself.”
“So you’re telling me you can’t protect our daughter from your lover?Is that what you’re saying?And it’s supposed to make me feel better?If I had tried this shit with Baxter—”
“How long are we going to do this?”he asked, his own irritation warming her as he matched her vicious hiss.
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“I didn’t sleep with Gabby.Yes, I went to the hotel to meet her on Tuesday.I met her at the bar.Told her I wasn’t interested in anything she had to say and that my family was the only thing that mattered to me.I didn’t even know she was going to be at the event tonight.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Not really,” he retorted.“Not when I come home to this.Gabby approached us, I walked away.She tried it again, I warned her off.There’s only so much you can say in explicit terms in front of an astute four-year-old.”
“You’ve got an excuse for everything.Just like when I found out about California—”
“Oh, come on, Rylee,” he said, leaning back and raising his arms.“You weren’t upset about California, you were upset about Gabby calling me!”He let his arms fall and looked square at her.“And you’re not upset that Sky met a random person.You’re upset that person is someone who once meant something to me.”
“Yes!Exactly!I don’t think introducing our daughter to your future bride without—”
“How long are we going to do this?”he asked again, seeming less angry.
On the back foot, she didn’t expect him to cut off his fury so abruptly.
Adrift, she couldn’t adjust.“I don’t know what…”
Coming closer, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist to pull her to him, sweeping the hair from her face.
“I want you, Siren,” he murmured, gazing down into her.“There, I said it, and the walls didn’t come crashing down.”
“Stop it, JD,” she said.He didn’t stop and held her in place when she tried to back off.“This isn’t the time for your games or your charm.I’m mad.”
“I know,” he said, but smiled.“There’s nothing to be mad about.I was never leaving you for California.It was a business trip, two weeks max.nothing more.And if you don’t want me to go, I won’t go… And Gabby’s nothing.No one to me.You’re the woman who’s infected me, my thoughts, my dreams.You’ve enchanted me, Siren.I want you.”
“Stop saying that,” she exhaled and dropped her chin; he scooped it back up with a finger.When he dipped lower, she planted her hands on his chest and pushed.“No.You can’t, JD.We can’t.”
“The kids are asleep,” he said, stroking her face.“We can.”
“No.”She shook her head.“We can’t… do this… not ever.”
He lost some of the drowsy, bewitched desire that had clouded his expression and frowned instead.“I don’t understand.I know you’re attracted to me.”
She kept her pressure on her palms against his chest.“That doesn’t matter.We can’t be together.”
Offence gathered in him again.“Why?Why not?”
“Because we have two children.”
“That would seem like the perfect reason to me.”
