Page 37 of The Secret
Micah walked to the other side of the worktable and leaned back against the countertop behind him, folding his arms over his chest and studying me. “You haven’t given me a reason to regret it. What’s going on, Con?”
I set my teeth. I didnotwant him being nice. My body felt too big for my skin, like my anger was growing exponentially, but without a target to vent it on or any way to calm it down. I wasneverlike this anymore.
I pressed my palms to my eyes and groaned. “This daysucks.”
“It’s barely four hours old.”
“So?” I slammed both palms down on the table with a satisfying slap. “Are you the… the…decider of daysnow, Micah?Can a day not suck without yourpermission?”
“No,” Micah said solemnly. “It can’t.”
He was trying to make me laugh. I knew it. I knew it and,fuck me, I appreciated it, but I didn’twantit. If there was ever a time I needed the man to be provoked, it was right now. I needed someone to be as worked up as I was. Someone I could punch or scream at or fuck six ways to Sunday.
So of course the man juststood there, calm as a rock in the middle of a rushing river, folding hisfucking hotarms over hisfucking hotchest and… Suddenly I knew exactly how to get the reaction I wanted.
“Maybe I was late because I needed to jerk off,” I said, almost like an accusation. I ran my hand down over the front of my pants and pushed against the semi-hardness there. “I’m stillyoung, remember? I have needs. Especially first thing in the morning when I—”
“Jesus.” He rolled his eyes. “If you don’t wanna talk to me, we won’t talk. Don’t be an asshole.”
He pushed past me toward his office and his shoulder bumped mine.
Notquitethe reaction I’d hoped for.
Not even remotely.
“You asked what was up with me,” I called before turning to follow him. “So I’m telling you.”
Micah sighed and sank into his chair. He picked up a pen and shuffled through the papers on his desk. “We have three arrangements to make for deliveries to the hospital this afternoon. There’s a goddamn baby boom in the O’Leary area right now. Oh, and I wanted to talk to you about… What are you doing, Con?”
“Me?” I walked around the desk, leaned my ass just inches from his hand, and ran my hand up and down my stomach. “Nothing.”
He leaned his chair back, threw his pen on the desk, and folded his arms over his chest again. “I swear, I thought I’d learned to read you over the past few weeks, but this?” He shook his head in exasperation. “You’re gonna have to help me out. What’s the exactoppositeof horny, Constantine? Because I’m pretty surethatis how you’rereallyfeeling right now.”
The fact that he was right only made me madder. “Always trying to psychoanalyze me, Micah. When are you going to learn I’m just not that complicated?” My nostrils flared. “When are you gonna learn you’re not as smart as you think you are?”
“Mmm. Nah. Sorry. I’m pretty freakin’ smart,” he said, almost apologetically. “And I know your tells.”
I snorted. “Yeah? Well, thank God one of us does. Maybe you could cluemein.”
“Like, for example,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Half the time, you don’t laugh at your own bullshit.”
“What?”
“You don’t do and say outrageous things becauseyouthink they’re funny, you do them todeflect. Like that, out there.” He lifted his chin toward the workroom. “Like this, right now.” A nod at the hand just above my waistband.
I moved my hand away and made myself laugh. “Fascinating. This erection is actually…a deflection? There are so many poems just waiting for me to—”
Micah’s lips twitched. “Aaaand,he proves my point.”
“Oh, come on! That proves exactlynothing,except that I’m really sarcastic. I’m told I get it from my dad, but I wouldn’t know. My dad actually—”
“Aaaand,he deflects again.”
“What the fuck?” I said, leaning over so I was in his space. “It’s not deflection when you don’t want to talk about something. Deflection is when you’re—”
“Aaaandhe deflects once more, this time by actually arguing the definition of deflection.” He paused. “So meta.”
I straightened and glared at him. “People can have bad days, you know. Not wanting to talk about my troubles withyou, doesn’t mean I’mdeflecting.”
