Page 109 of Under Her Skin

“Ten, why?” I ask as I dry myhands.

“Why?” His blue, brown eyes dance as he smiles at me in the mirror. “Because I want to spend the night with you, duh! I can pick you up and take you to my hotel room. It’s a sweet set up and there’s room service for breakfast in the morning. They make fantastic crepes. I’m sure yours are much better, but theirs are prettygreat.”

I turn and stare up at him with my mouth slightly open. “Blake, this.” I gesture around the ladies’ room. “What happened doesn’t mean we’re backtogether.”

Now his jaw drops and his hands grip my wrists. “Damn it, Rachelle. You’re treating me like a piece of shit. I didn’t fuck you in the God Damned Ladies’ room. I made love to your stubborn ass. You can’t just brush me off like some hard dick that had to have a taste of your sweet pussy. That’s a horrible way to treat someone who loves your crazyass!”

“Crazy? So you still think I’m crazy?” I say with a control I don’t exactly feel. “Did Peyton tell you I’ve been talking to someone, because if she did I may have to strangleher?”

“Talking to someone?” Confusion fills his handsome face. “Who? Who the hell are you talking to? And why would you? You can talk to me anytime you wantto.”

Oh! He doesn’t know I’ve been talking to atherapist!

“Don’t worry about it,Blake. Now let me go. I have work to get back to. I’m surprised they haven’t sent someone looking for me yet.” I struggle to make him let me go and he finallydoes.

I look at my wrists to find them red where he held them so tightly. I hold them up so he can see what he did to me. “Look, controlfreak!”

“Oh my God. Baby, I’m so sorry,” he says as he wraps me in hisarms.

He smells so fucking good that I have to stop inhaling in order to keep my wits about me. “Let me go,please.”

Reluctantly he releases me. His hand takes my chin, and he makes me look at him. “I will be outside at ten when you get off. We need to talk. I’m not about to let you go. So whoever you’re talking to, let them know you have a man who’s not afraid to fight for what he wants. And I mean that both physically and mentally,baby.”

Letting my chin go, he tweaks my nose and turns, walking out of the ladies’ room and leaving me with my mouthagape.

He’d actually fight forme!

Blake

The parking lot is dark as I parked near the back. I’m afraid if Rachelle sees me out here she won’t come out and I need her to talk to me. A crack of light I see as a door at the back opens and someone peeks out then turns back and Rachelle looks out then comes walkingout.

I let her get to her car and then I follow her from a safe distance behind. The plan was to go to her apartment and wait for her, but then I thought she might not go back there, thinking I’d be waiting forher.

And the answer is, yes. I know I’m being a completestalker!

But my intentions are good.I’m not going to hurt her or make her do anything she doesn’t want to. Except talk to me. I am going to attempt to get her to talk tome.

She pulls into the parking spot in front of her apartment and I know I have to park and move fast to get her to let me inside. I park and lock the doors manually so she doesn’t hear the beep and turn around and spotme.

In silence, I jog up behind her as she unlocks the door and as the door opens I place my hand on the small of her back. She jerks around and punches me in the stomach then kicks me in theshin.

“Ow!” Iyell.

“Oh, God! Blake, I’m sorry. I thought you were a killer or a crazyperson!”

Her hands run over my head as I bed over and try to catch my breath. She knocked the wind out of me, the littlething.

“I can’t believe how quick and strong you are,” I manage to getout.

She pulls at me to go inside and I stumble in and drop to the sofa. I rub the place on my shin she kicked me and she pushes up my pants leg, revealing a blueishmark.

Turning from me, she goes to the kitchen. “I’m really sorry. I’ll get an ice pack for that. You shouldn’t have snuck up on methough.”

“I didn’t know if you would let me in and we need to talk, you and I. Whoever else you feel you can talk to, whoever he is, may be after more than yourealize.”

Rachelle comes back and takes my shoes off then turns me around to lie on the sofa. She runs to her bedroom, coming back out with a pillow and props it behind my head. She sits down and pulls my legs over her lap and places the ice pack on my bruisedshin.

“There’s no guy that I’m talking to, Blake. The truth is Peyton has this friend, a woman, she’s a therapist and I’ve talked to her a little. Not a whole lot as I’m not really comfortable with her yet.” She picks up the ice pack and runs her hand over thebruise.