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Fire is in his eyes, those stormy eyes I love, but he’s still holding back, fighting me. I’m out of patience.

Raindrops fall faster on my arms. “It’s starting to rain.”

A flash of light in the sky distracts him, and I take the opportunity to pull away, jogging to where the Jag is parked. The top is down, so I throw my bag inside and jump behind the wheel.

“Drew, wait!” Gray jogs after me, but I floor it, throwing rocks as I rush out of the gravel parking lot. I’ve had it with the games. I’m not a yo-yo.

The raindrops are like pellets hitting my cheeks, and I lean forward to protect my face. It’s less than two miles to the lake house, but the road is curvy and dark. This is all Gray’s fault. If he hadn’t been so damn pushy, I’d have been able to put the top up. Now I’m getting soaked, my purse is getting soaked, the inside of the car…

I’m rounding the last curve when my headlights land on a small animal, a dog or a raccoon, in the middle of the road. I scream and slam on the brakes, jerking the wheel and causing the car to skid off on the gravel shoulder.

“No!” I scream again, pressing harder on the brakes.

It’s too late, I spin out in the loose gravel, and the front end goes down, straight into a ditch.

“Oh!” I cry. The collision is loud, and I’m a little dazed at first.

The rain is getting harder, and I’m not getting the car out of this tonight. It’s still running, so I hit the button to close the convertible top. When it’s finally close enough to the windshield, I pull and jerk it into place. I snatch the keys out of the ignition, grab my purse, and slip off my shoes. Then I dash out into the brush, jogging up to the highway toward the lake house.

It doesn’t take long to get there, still, I’m soaked through. Unlocking the back door, I stand in the mudroom, dripping, and searching everywhere for towels, dry clothes. I can’t find anything.

We stopped coming here after Danny died. Well, my dad stopped coming after my mom died, but once Danny was gone and Gray never came back, I couldn’t stand all the memories in this place. I’m not sure why I thought I could stand them tonight.

“It was a complete disaster,” I grumble, stripping off my wet dress, bra, and panties, and leaving everything on the floor where I entered.

I dash through the house to my bedroom upstairs, where a thick, white robe hangs on the door of my bathroom. I pull it over my naked body and use a hand towel to catch the water from my hair.

Then I take my cardigan, dress, panties, and bra off the floor, walking slowly to the clothes drier in the back room.

Once they’re started, I go to the kitchen and pour a big glass of wine while I try to salvage the contents of my purse.

My heart is a lead weight in my chest, and no matter how much I want to deny it, I loved the way Gray charged onto the dance floor tonight and told Ralph to let me go. I love his possessiveness. It’s what I’ve been waiting for him to do since he reappeared at the grave that night.

Walking to the couch, I rub my fingers over my eyes. “What am I going to do?”

My whole body is heavy with emotions, with aching and longing for my man. I watch the lightning crawl across the sky through the tall windows facing the lake, and I sit, pulling my knees to my chest. The rain beats like a drum against the glass, and I rest my forehead on my knees.

I’m out of options. I don’t know what to do anymore. Nothing will make me stop loving Gray, but how can I tear down the walls he’s built around his heart?

He wants out of that prison he’s constructed. I can feel it every time we’re together. I can tell by the way he came for me tonight. Still, it’s not something I can force him to do. As much as I know about the human mind, I know this battle is one he’ll have to fight on his own.

He has to make the decision…

Chapter 16

Gray

Watching Drew fly out of the parking lot does something to my insides.

The transmission is on its last leg, those old tires need to be replaced, it’s starting to rain, and she drank that margarita way too fast. I watched her do it, and my frustration at her behavior made my skin hot. I wanted to charge across the restaurant, pick her up, and take her home like some goddamn cave man.

Drew is small, and she’s a girl. She shouldn’t be drinking like that, and she sure as hell shouldn’t be driving on a night like this.

My chest tightens, and I jog to my truck, snatching the visor down and catching the keys. I’m breathing fast as I race through the streets trying to find her. That Jag has a freakin V8 engine, and I’m driving an old-assed Chevy. She’s long gone. Fuck.

Tension radiates through my brain, conjuring unwanted images.

These roads are dangerous.