Page 70 of Objection
“Oh, I won’t be having a scene with you tonight,” I laughed.
“Excuse me?” God, the look on his face was priceless.
“I said, I won’t be having a scene with you tonight,” I restated with a smile.
“I beg to differ,” he laughed, his mocking tone only further igniting my ire.
“Oh, I like that idea!” I clapped sarcastically.
“What idea?” he almost sneered, obviously annoyed with me. Good, let him be annoyed.
“The thought of you begging, of course,” I quipped.
“Oh, you’re going to get punished with that kind of attitude, Ms. Adams,” he chuckled humorlessly.
“I’d like to see you try. We aren’t in a scene, and according to your rules in our contract thatyoudesigned, I’m not yours to control twenty-four seven. So, as far as I’m concerned, we will not be having a scene tonight. I am going to go to dinner.” I stood up, giving him the fakest smile I could manage before turning on my heel and walking away.
I hadn’t made it three steps before his hand was wrapped around my upper arm and he spun me around to face him.
“I’m sorry, I must have heard you wrong,” He chuckled derisively.
“Well, that’s on you then, Mr. Wellington,” I sneered at his name. “Maybe hearing aids will help.”
That was the wrong thing to say.
His eyes narrowed at me. I could see the little tick in the muscle of his jaw.
“Watch your tone, Ms. Adams.” His voice may have been quiet, but his tone was anything but.
“Oh, so now I’m Ms. Adams again, huh? You know, could you, maybe, just for a second, make up your fucking mind?” I laughed humorlessly, waving my hands around as I spoke.
“I said, watch your tone.”
“News flash! You don’t scare me! I am so tired of your mood swings and your inability to act even remotely human! What in the hell is going on with you?” I knew that I was pushing him further than I had intended, but I didn’t care.
“We have a contract, and you need to —” he began, but I was done.
“I need to do what’s best for me. And you, Mr. Unwilling-to-be-a-decent-person, need to step up and treat me like a goddamned human being!” I screamed. My God, the man made me want to pull my hair out. “I can go see a friend if I want to. I can cancel one of our scenes if I deem necessary. And do you know what? I am deeming it necessary!”
“On what grounds?” He stood to his full height, towering over me as he argued. I knew that face. That face was the same one I had seen countless times when he was in court, really, any time he was facing an opponent and he planned to win. Which was always. This was his game face. Well, you know what? Game. Fucking. On.
“Mental health,” I tossed back, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly.
“Ha! Well, since you are acting crazy, perhaps that’s a good choice,” he jeered.
“Oh, no. I don’t need a mental health day formymental health, it’s for yours!”
“That doesn’t even make any sense,” he scoffed. Oh, I had never wanted to hit the man more.
“If I don’t get some time to unwind tonight, then I will drive you fucking crazy if it’s the last thing I do. So, if I were you, Mr. Know-It-All-Pain-In-My-Ass, I would calm your damn tits and let me have some fucking girl time.” The smile on my face was as fake as the knock-off Coach bag in my closet. He didn’t say a damned word. Good. He shouldn’t.
I should have walked away at that moment. Taken the win and moved on. But I was not a smart fighter. Not when it came to Soren.
“And another thing, maybe you should seek out therapy for your sheer inability to show any kind of damned emotion.” He stood there, looking at me like I had grown three heads. “You ask me, time and time again, to be open with you; to be vulnerable. But you refuse to do the same.”
My tone had lost almost every bit of fire, but my words still cut like a knife.
“That isn’t what this is,” he stated. He didn’t argue. He just spoke the words, as emotionless as a damn robot.
