Page 93 of Affliction

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Mia

I managed to avoid Terry for most of the day. Ally had sent me a few texts letting me know how the shoot was going. All was well, and Terry was being very professional but still friendly with the fun-bag twins. It was almost three when Ally buzzed.

“Hello,” I said into the intercom. I knew it was Ally, but something about the last few hours had reminded me that I needed to be cautious.

“Hey, sorry to bother you. I know you’re very busy”—Ally said the words like she was speaking them more for someone else’s benefit than my own—“but Terry is here and he insists that he needs to see you.”

I laughed into the intercom. I knew he was probably giving her a hard time. I almost felt bad for Ally, but she could handle him. “Is this for professional or personal reasons?” I teased.

Ally sighed deeply. He must have been being a big pain in the ass out there. “He says professional, but I have a feeling there’s a bit of personal in there too.”

“Please, I just want to see her for a few minutes. If she has meetings, I’ll be sure to leave before they start or give her whatever time she needs to prep. I just want to see her.”

His tone was pleading, and it squeezed at my heart. I felt bad for only answering his texts today with one-word answers. I only did it because I was hoping it would convey how busy I was and keep him from barging into my office. He had held out longer than I thought he would.

“Let him in,” I told her before clicking off. Swallowing deeply, I steeled my nerves for the questions he would ask and the explanation I would have to give. Preparing myself to share with him the awful truth of the things that had happened to me, I leaned back in my chair, waiting for him.

I didn’t have to wait long.

The door to my office opened slowly, and Terry came strutting in. Had I not been focusing on breathing in and out, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the purposefully slow way he made his way over to me. I allowed my eyes to roam over his body. The way his jeans fit his body made me wish I hadn’t waited so long to see him today. Terry had dressed in such a desirable way this morning. I wondered if it was for me.

“Why weren’t you at the shoot?” He regarded me with raised eyebrows and a sexy smile—one that said he had plans to eat me alive.

“I sent you a text explaining that already,” I told him, pretending to be bored with this line of questioning. I didn’t miss the way he continued forward, his eyes carefully studying my face. I grabbed a piece of paper and held it up to cover some of the damage, hoping he wouldn’t see it.

“Yes, I know you sent me some bullshit about being busy. But I thought you wanted to be there for this, since the girls were going to be there.”

“Did you need supervised?” I asked, watching him watch me and trying to see if there was any reaction to the marks on my face. I couldn’t be sure, though. The grin he wore was pure seduction, and it was making it hard to concentrate.

“Well, you know there’s a history there, and you had this adorable little nickname for them. What was it again?”

“The fun-bag twins,” I said dryly.

He snickered. “Yeah, that was it. So tell me, is everything okay? Or is there another reason why you’re holed up in your office avoiding everyone today?”

A chill ran down my spine. “Is that why you’re in here? To tell me something happened with them before someone else does? And what makes you think I’m avoiding everyone today?”

My array of questions caused him to scrub his hands down his face. “Jesus, are you all right?” Terry asked me.

My eyes snapped up to his. I tried to figure out what that meant. Had he seen the marks on my face? Is that why he was asking me if I was all right? Instead of guessing and giving anything away, I waited for him to make the next move. I wasn’t going to give him anything until he asked for it.

It wasn’t a good strategy in this situation, but I wanted to wait and see how much time I had before he saw me differently. By the way he regarded me when he came into my office, I could tell he thought I was sexy and he wanted to do dirty things to me. That may have been why he closed the door to my office and walked over to me with a sexy swagger. But once I told him what Chad had done to me last night and before, he wouldn’t see me that way. He would see me as damaged. He would see me as fragile—the way Bryce used to look at me when we first started our little arrangement. He was so gentle with me. Then, I appreciated it. But I hadn’t wanted that from Terry. I wanted the rough takings against walls. I wanted the hot, dirty desk sex, and his head going underneath my dress in limos.

The silence was growing, and he wasn’t budging. As much as I didn’t want to, I knew I had to be the one to. “Why are you asking me if I’m all right?”

I held my breath and waited for his response.

“Because you’re talking a mile a minute. What’s with the twenty questions?”

I shrugged noncommittally, enjoying the past few moments where he didn’t see me as a damaged, fragile woman.

“To answer your early question—no, I did not need supervising, and nothing happened with them. We talked a little, sure, but it was completely appropriate. I swear it.” He held his hands over his heart and made a crisscross motion over it.

“I didn’t actually think you did anything,” I told him. I watched as he visibly relaxed. Laughing, I continued. “I know you know better than to try something like that with me up here.” He got ready to speak—to defend himself, I was sure—but I held my hand up. “Relax. I also know that’s the kind of man you are. I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”

He nodded and came around the desk. I knew it the moment he was going to see it all. He grabbed my chair, the very same way that Catherine had, and turned it so I was facing him. Leaning in, he fully intended to kiss me. But he stopped. He had seen.

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