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Fuck this shit to hell and back. The things she said barely registered as she rubbed her boot against the dirty ground. I had tried again and again to figure out why she had pulled back so hard and fast.
“…Maximus?”
At the sound of my name on her lips, I snapped back to attention and looked at her.
She flushed and shifted from one foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable.
I tried to remember what she’d been talking about, but couldn’t.
“Sorry,” I said, but even to my ears, the apology fell flat. “I’m having a hard time paying attention. I keep thinking about how it felt to have you in my bed.”
Her cheeks went bright pink, and she snapped her jaw shut with a click.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for a reply.
She looked down at her tablet, then off to the side. Finally, she shoved the tablet back into the bag and pulled the strap over her head. She turned to face me, still flushed with embarrassment, but her gaze was direct.
“We don’t need to discuss any of that.” Her tone clarified that she meant, I don’t want to talk about it.
“Don’t we?” Driven by the need to touch her again, I moved closer.
She tensed but didn’t back away, so I took another step, then another.
But when I was close enough to lean down and take that mouth as I wanted, she lifted a hand and braced it against my chest.
“Stop,” she said. “I had a good time with you, but I’m not interested in auditioning for the role of plaything or flavor of the week or whatever you call it.”
“Audition…” Narrowing my eyes, I considered the word. “No. I don’t think I offered you the chance to audition.”
“Stop being an ass.” She glared at me. “I didn’t leave your place expecting a proposal or some stupid shit like that, but also sure as hell wasn’t planning on joining your harem, okay?”
“My harem?”
“Is there an echo in here?” she demanded. Shoving me, she spun around and paced a few steps before turning back to me. Fire shot from her dark blue eyes, her face still flushed but now with evident anger. “I met one of your ladies, Maximus. And can I tell you this? I’m not overly impressed by how you jumped from me to somebody else in a few hours, but it is quite impressive that you’ve still got the libido of a teenager.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The tall leggy blonde I met leaving your place Saturday. While I was on my way out, she was on her way in. She told me you two had a brunch date.” She held up a hand to suggest a woman’s height, maybe four inches taller than her. “About this tall, hair down to her ass? Ringing any bells?”
Yeah. Twenty of them. All going off inside my head.
Simone.
Fuck.
“Yes.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took a deep breath. After letting it out, I lowered my hand and looked at Tina. “That was Simone. And for the record? She and I haven’t had a date in weeks.”
Tina blinked.
I closed the space between us. “I didn’t invite Simone over Saturday, no matter what shit she told you.”
“But she was there.”
“She showed up to pout and bitch because I hadn’t called in a while. I told her to go home, that I wasn’t interested.” Dipping my head, I whispered in her ear. “I haven’t been interested in anybody—except you—from the moment we met.”
Fifteen
Tina