Page 49 of Secrets in Love
“But what about—”
“You let me worry about dance-boy. He is out of control at the moment, and I have had enough. Just be here tomorrow at twelve. Oh, and I expect to see Iris front and center on Thursday.”
Still crying, I made my way back to the table. Nate sat nervously, drumming a parmesan grinder against the table, a hesitant smile on his face and two piping hot pizzas sitting before him. “Eves! Babe, what is it? Please tell me. Whatever it is, I can fix it.”
“It’s not you, Nate.”This time.“I just spoke to Jody from the dance studio. She didn’t want to lose me and asked me to come and see her tomorrow. I think she is going to give me my job back. Oh, and Iris can—”
Nate’s hand slammed down on the table.
“No way! I won’t allow it.”
“You won’tallowit?”
“That’s right.” He shoved a slice in his mouth and took an exaggerated bite. “Youcouldsay I forbid it.”
“You forbid it?”
“Why do you keep repeating everything I say? Yes. I forbid it, and I’m positive that Finn will agree. He may congratulate me on my stance.”
“Oh my God! Who the hell do you think you are?” Before I could stop myself, I picked a meatball off the pizza and threw it in his face. Candice, who was carrying two beers to our table, whistled, spun on her heels, and returned to the bar.
Nate sat with mouth agape…for two seconds till he threw a slice of pepperoni onto my cheek. “I don’tthinkI’m anyone. IknowI am someone who is supposed to look out for you. To protect you. And if you think, for one minute, I will let you back around that goon, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Nathaniel Myers. I am not a child, and I do not need protection.”
“Seemed like you did when you called me in tears in the back of that town car. Look,” he snapped, then, in a stunning contradiction, gently lifted my hand from the table and held it in his. “I can still see the bruise on your arm. You think I missed that, did you?” I pulled my hand away.
“If you came all the way here to be my bodyguard, you can fuck right off.” I pushed out from the table, stacked four slices of pizza on top of each other in my left hand ‘cause there was no way I was not eating it, flipped Nate the bird with the right, and left.
“Come back here, Evie. We need to talk about this.”
“No, we don’t. You have no idea how the studio works. Jody is an equal partner in the business. I could go through her for everything. It may even be possible to schedule my classes, so I don’t see Christian at all. Shit, Nate. Don’t you get how important this is to me? And not just because it’s dancing, which I love, but because it’s mine. I got this job because I can dance and because I have talent. No one else did this but me, and it’s the only thing in my whole life, apart from writing, that is truly mine.”
Nate stood before me, hands white-knuckled, puffing like he had run a marathon, his cheeks dappled red. He looked so angry, so frustrated, and so fucking hot. I knew we would have a massive fight, and I wanted to. I longed for it. I wanted to yell and scream and let out all the fucking throbbing, aching, grab-him-by-the-hair-and-kiss-the-shit-out-of-him energy trapped in my tiny body.
“You’re right, Gidget. You’re totally right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare tell me—what?”
“You’re right. You deserve this because you’re talented, and someone like Christian shouldn’t have the power to stop you from doing what you love. I will back you one hundred and ten percent. But…”
“But…” He stood menacingly close, and I was overcome with a desire to bite the pulsing vein in his neck.
“If he so much as lays one finger…one breath on you, I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”
Never before had I experienced the urge to climb a man like a monkey would a tree and wrap my thighs around his face. I was furious. He was being a total boofhead man, and I FUCKING LOVED IT.
With no idea how to deal with ninety-nine percent of the chaos happening within me, I shoved a slice in my mouth and started walking.
“We need to talk about this, Evie.”
“No, no, we don’t,” I huffed around the garlicky deliciousness. “You’ve known me long enough to know when to quit.”
“Well, unlike you, I will never quit on you or us.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t quit anything. There is no us, and there has never been.”
“Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, Gidget.”
