Page 74 of Caught in the Axe
The moment the words came out of my mouth, I wished I could breathe them back in. God, I hated myself right now. I sounded exactly like Cole; selfish and petty.
Her face fell. “Is that what I am to you? A trophy? A revenge fuck? A toy you want to steal from your little brother?”
“No. Of course not.” I shook my head. “Lila, I’m sorry.”
She held up a hand. “That was shitty, Owen. Thecircumstances then and now are vastly different. You should be able to understand that.”
I put my head in my hands and cursed. God, I was making this worse. “I’m so sorry. I’m spiraling. I’ve got feelings for you. Real, complicated feelings. And I guess I saw this weekend as the start of something.”
She lowered her gaze. “We can’t start anything. I’m moving to New York in August. And you’re coming back here in a couple of weeks.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “I don’t care what people say or what they think. And I don’t care if we live hours apart. You’re amazing, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”
“We’re both so busy, and I can’t risk any more drama. We’ve had so much fun together.” That brought a sparkle to her eye that, even through her tears, told me she’d like to have a lot more fun.
I’d happily oblige.
I opened my mouth but snapped it shut again quickly. Nothing I could say right now would change her mind. The sadness etched into every line on her face made me want to hold her close and never let go.
She averted her gaze and clasped her hands in front of her. “We can still be friends.”
“I’m a shitty friend.”
“No, you’re not. All weekend, I met person after person who adores and respects you. You have no idea how lucky you are. You’ve built an incredible life for yourself. I’m proud of you, and I hope you can leave all the Lovewell bullshit behind soon and get back here.”
“The bullshit is so much more bearable when I’m with you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. We’re weeks away from closing this deal. Then you can go back to your life, and I’ll go start mine.”
I leaned back in my chair, pinching the bridge of my nose. There was nothing I could say that would change her mind. If I knew one thing, it was this woman was determined. And what did I have to offer her anyway?
“We should get packed up,” I said, standing so quickly my cold coffee sloshed over the rim of my mug and onto my sweats. “Car service is picking us up at nine.”
Chapter 25
Lila
Ineeded to run. Every muscle fiber in my body twitched with tension. It took all my self-control not to grab Owen by his handsome face and stick my tongue down his throat.
God, that man.
He was so controlled, so careful. He did everything with precision and care and never raised his voice.
He didn’t have to. He emanated power and brilliance.
But he had one weakness. Me.
And it thrilled me.
I was drunk on the power. Knowing that his superhuman self-control wavered when he got too close.
If I were a different type of woman, I could abuse that power and use it for my own orgasmic gain.
But I had a plan. And as much as I ached for him, I had to stick to it.
I had promised myself that I wouldn’t get sidelinedby dick. Even good dick. And Owen wasthe bestdick. Not that I’d tell him that. His ego didn’t need the stroking.
So far, after our incredible weekend, I’d kept my distance. But the memories just refused to fade. Hell, I still had beard burn on my inner thighs.
