Page 26 of Honey, Honey
“I’m from South Texas,” I told him, “but I moved out here about a decade ago and I love it. You can go every single day without seeing the same person twice, if you really wanted.”
“And yet we’ve seen each other twice in a week,” he said, clasping his hands in front of him. “Funny isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I said, hesitantly, because I didn’t know what else to say. Did he think this was happening on purpose? I hoped not. What if thatwaswhat he was thinking right now? That I was some crazy stalker that got in at a shop he frequented and was running around lying about being his fiancée to anyone that would listen. Fuck, I hoped he didn’t think that.
“I’m sorry about lying,” I blurted out. “I just, it got away from me when she asked and I didn’t really know how to tell her it wasn’t true. I forgot about it, and then we had dinner tonight and she just...she ran with it.”
He held up a hand and I stopped talking. “I just have a question,” he said.
“What?”
“When you lied about us being engaged, did you just tell your friend or have you been telling everyone?” His voice was almost emotionless, monotone, each word succinctly spoken so there would be no misunderstanding his meaning.
“I haven’t told anyone but her,” I said. “And technically, I didn't tell her, you did.”
He nodded. “That’s true,” he paused and then continued on, “did you let her think that because you liked the power?”
I blinked in surprise, my resolve to make it through Law’s interrogation broken before I’d really gotten started. “The power?” I asked, unsure if I’d heard right. “I don’t understand what you mean…”
“The power that would come with someone looking at you and knowing you belonged to me.”
A tendril of warmth bloomed in my belly at his words, but it had nothing to do with talk of power, and everything to do with Law sayingI belonged to him.My body had liked that a whole fucking lot.
I shook my head. “No, I—power, or clout isn’t why I let her think I was-,” the warmth grew in my body until I felt it tingle in my fingers and toes, “why I let her think I was yours.”
Law’s body gave a slight jerk and he stood from the stool. “Then why did you do it, Honey?” He had his hands in his pockets now and was standing beside my kitchen table, body angled towards the windows and I sucked in a breath when a lightning flash illuminated his features. He was just as beautiful as ever.
“Because I liked that someone thought I was yours,” I said, standing and walking towards him. My feet sounded soft on the hardwood, imperceptible in the almost deafening sound of the rainstorm. It sounded like it was coming down harder now, the dull roar of it blessedly filling the silence that had descended between Law and I. I walked towards him, acutely aware that Law was backing away even as I closed the space between us.
“I wanted it to be true, even if it was just for a little while.”
“You shouldn’t want something like that. I’m not a good man.”
“I’ve got no use for a good man.”
Law’s jaw clenched, his eyes were moving over my face, then down to the sweater and sweats I’d put on. I was suddenly wishing I’d chosen something, anything else, than the zero sex appeal outfit I’d gone for. Why the hell hadn’t I wanted him to touch me? I didn’t care if I wasn’t safe with him-- because I didn’t want to be safe from Law. He moved then, a hand reaching towards me, and I took it without even thinking.
“Get on the table.”
I stumbled at his order. “What?”
He jerked his chin towards my dining table. “Ass on the table.”
“But-what are you-”
“If you want this, you’ll do it now, Honey.” That was all I needed to hear. I hustled towards the table and like Law asked, got my ass on the table in record time. We stared at each other for a beat before Law sighed and came to stand in front of me. “If I was smarter, I’d stay away from you.”
“Me too,” I said quickly, “I mean probably, right?’
He cracked a smile, just a lifting of the corner of his lips, but he nodded. “You really would. You’re better off staying away from me, Honey. You know that, right?”
“But I don’t want to stay away from you,” I said with a pout.
He reached out a finger and trailed it up my arm. “I don’t want you to stay away from me either. That’s why this is all fucked, Honey. We can’t do this ever again.”
“Do what?”
He sank to his knees in front of me. “This.” He reached out and went to put his hands on my thighs, but he stopped and looked up at me. “Can I touch you?”
