Page 81 of Mourner for Hire
“You know what I think, Dominic?”
I raise my eyebrows for her to continue.
“I think you either want to fuck me or kill me, and you can’t make up your mind so you’re trying to control every circumstance around me.”
Her bold take lacks diplomacy, but it still makes me laugh. “You really want to paintmeout to be the psychopath.”
“Well.” She sweeps her hand in front of her as if to demonstrate that the accusation tracks.
She smiles at me, her lips dripping with poison that only seems to affect me.
“Vada…” I shake my head and let my gaze land on the ocean past the cliff.
“So do it. No one is up here. No one knows where I am.”
She steps closer. So close. I can smell her shampoo, and my hands twitch to pull her closer just as they have before.
She looks up at me doe-eyed and innocent. “No one will even hear me scream.”
I lick my lips, restraining just about every part of my body that pumps blood.
She tilts her chin up, and her mouth relaxes to a soft smile. “I dare you.”
We hold our stare. I’m convinced if she kissed me right now, I’d let her. But I refuse to make the first move.
Just as I feel my face soften, she laughs.
“I don’t want to kill you, Vada.”
“Exactly what I thought.” She shakes her head and takes a step back. “All bark, no bite. Actually… you’re a nice guy. Angry, grieving, and pinning all of it on me because it’s convenient. So go ahead, blame me. Make me your target. I’ll take it if it helps. Because deep down, I still think you’re the man I met last year.”
“No, that’s not—” I start, but stop myself. The truth is, I don’t want to be honest. I’m not a good man—not to her. And I don’t want to be. Because even though I know I could’ve fallen for her, something buried deep in my gut still doesn’t trust why she’s here.
Before I can say more, she waves a hand like she’s brushing me off. “We don’t like each other. I get it. It’s weird. But I’m legally stuck with this, and I made a promise to your mom. Who, by the way, is lovely—even if she’s... haunting…”
She mutters the last part, and I’m not sure I heard her right.
“She what?”
“Nothing.” She claps her hands against her thighs. “Ignore me, and I’ll ignore you.”
“Fine.” I cross my arms.
“Fine.” She exhales sharply.
I take a long breath.
“And I’m gone, I swear,” she adds, lifting her hands in mock surrender. Her attempt at a stare down is almost cute. I hate that.
“You look like you want to feed me to the coyotes.”
“They don’t like people.” I almost smile. Almost.
By the way she bites her lip, withholding a smile tells me she clocked my moment of weakness. She shifts her gaze to the dustymountaintop and lowers her head as she walks past. I hate when she doesn’t look me in the eye. Her wild green eyes haunt me, and the need to see them again is maddening.
“Who were you talking to by the way?”
She freezes, twisting her face in confusion.
