Page 26 of No Apologies
Her cheeks flushed and she looked at the floor, “Yeah, I still have a boyfriend.”
He hardened himself to the slash of pain in his chest. He wasn’t surprised by that. No smart woman would choose him and his issues over the nice, stable new guy, particularly not when he kept doing shit like this to purposefully drive a wedge between them. Skylar was smart, he’d always known that so he forced himself to end the conversation before she caught on to how much that one statement had hurt him.
“Then we ain’t got a thing to talk about do we?”
“You came to check on me last night. You took care of me. I thought that meant...” She glanced back up at him from under her lashes, “Never mind. Forget it. I just wanted to say thank you.”
“No reason to thank me. I was only doing Jemma a favor.”
Skylar studied him for a long second, “So that’s it then? You came over because Jemma asked. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that we’re friends or… anything else?”
“Nope.” He lied and watched something he couldn’t identify flash in her eyes before she lashed out at him in return.
“You’re such a fucking liar Colt Bomar.”
She spat his last name at him like it was a dirty word and he fought the immediate clench of his fists. He could say whatever he wanted of his family, because for better or worse they were his, but he couldn’t stand hearing that crap out of the mouths of other people, definitely not her. And she knew that. Only the knowledge that she was trying to get a rise out of him softened the blow.
“I’m a lot of things but a liar ain’t one of them.”
“Bullshit. You lie to yourself all the time.” She gave her head a hard shake, “I don’t understand why you think you have to do this.”
What he should have done was tell her that the conversation was over. He should have done whatever it took to drive her out of his shop right then and there. But he just couldn’t help himself, not where she was concerned, so he asked the question instead of sending her away once and for all.
“Do what?”
“Push away the people that care about you! You don’t have to. We’re here. I’m here! I care about you! I…” She clenched her jaw as if she’d just stopped herself from saying something and when she spoke again her tone had softened, “Why do you try so hard to make me think you’re one of the bad guys?”
“Iamone of the bad guys, Sky.”
“No, you’re not but you sure as hell act like it with me.”
“I’m not acting, Skylar. This is me so take a good long look. Beaten and bruised, fighting for reasons you’ll never understand, reasons I can’t explain to you. This is it. I’m a Bomar. I was born bad, baby.”
“Don’t call me that.” She snapped.
He blinked at the venom in her voice, “Call you what?”
“Baby. I’m not your baby. You’ve never called me that before and you’re not about to start it now so just don’t.”
Because he’d called her angel last night. He remembered. She’d called him out for it then and from the flash of pain on her face, it hurt her to remember that he’d been affectionate last night when all he seemed capable of being now was this bastard. Instead of commenting on any of that, he latched on to the one part of it that was sure to drive her away.
“You’re right. You’re not my baby. You’re Treys.”
She took a deep breath, as if she had to calm herself before she sighed, “The thing about Trey is that yes, he’s my boyfriend, at least for a few more hours, but that doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Skylar met his gaze as she took another step towards him, “I don’t think it changes how you feel about me either. We’ve both been using him as an excuse not to threaten our friendship with what we really want but we aren’t friends, Colt. Let’s just admit it. Say what we both know is true, please. We’re more than friends.”
He gaped at her, trying to figure out what was happening. She couldn’t be calling him out. Not here, not now. Not when she’d just admitted that she still belonged to another man. She still had a boyfriend and she didn’t have the right to put him on the spot as long as that was the case.
“We’re just friends, Skylar.”
“No.” She shook her head, “We’re not.”
She moved slowly, gave him enough time to stop her if he wanted, but he was too shocked by the bold stand she was taking to move away when she reached for him. She put her small hands on either side of his face, holding him softly, gently, but that electric current that was always between them flared at the moment of impact. Warmth suffused him and he could see the same reaction darken her eyes, knew if he didn’t do something, soon to stop this that he wouldn’t be able to.
If she kept touching him, he was going to touch her back. And if he touched her, he was going to kiss her. And if he kissed her, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to push her away again.
“We’ve never been just friends and I’m tired of doing this with you, Colt.”
Luckily, or unluckily, he wasn’t sure because his brain was too busy short-circuiting to decide what to do next, Skylar made the decision for them. She sighed heavily and dropped her hands away. She took one step back and then another and another.
