Page 143 of Tell Me Something True

It should have been simple, naming these feelings burning through her. The ones that left her trembling. Her stomach turning with a pleasant mix of warmth and anticipation. Her heart picking up speed.

Safe for her to acknowledge what she was feeling. What she wanted.

But her feelings for Miles had never been simple.

And there sure as hell wasn’t anything safe about how she was feeling right now.

“Have you lost your mind?” she demanded.

“We need to talk,” he repeated.

“I said I wasn’t interested in talking to you. Yet that didn’t stop you from hauling me through the bar like I was a criminal under arrest after you interrupted my conversation with a very nice man.”

His scowl darkened. That muscle at the back of his jaw ticked. “Black’s not a nice man, he’s a lawyer. And he just wants to fuck you.”

Her breath caught. It was another shock. This one hitting her square in her chest.

Rubbing the ache, she swallowed the painful lump that had lodged in her throat.

It shouldn’t hurt. Not after everything she’d survived. Not after Miles had made it more than clear what he thought of her.

It shouldn’t hurt.

But it did.

And she’d be damned if she’d let him know that.

She dropped her hand. Curled her lips up into a well-practiced smile.

“Well, of course that’s all he wants from me,” she said, her words a soft purr. “What other reason could a man possibly have for talking to me? I’m nothing special after all. I’m not smart enough or funny enough or interesting enough to pique a man’s interest in me as an actual person. For him to want to know my thoughts or opinions. Why, I’m not even good enough for a man—a man I lived with, a man who told me again and again that he loved me, a man who supposedly wanted to marry me—to introduce me to his family or even tell them I exist.”

Miles straightened. “That’s not how it—”

“I’m not good enough for someone like Lincoln Black, or any other kind, decent, intelligent man.” Holding Miles’s gaze, she tipped her head to the side. “And I was never even close to being good enough for you.”

“That was not what I said. Don’t put words in my fucking mouth.”

“No, you didn’t say that. You said you remember everything about me. Including how good of a fuck I am.”

He flinched. Dropped his gaze, but the moment she took a step toward him, he lifted his eyes. She took another step and he eased back, his shoulder blades hitting the locked door with a dull thud, his dark eyes wary.

“And then,” she continued, “you took me home so you could prove I was nothing more to you than a girl you used to fuck. That any feelings you used to have for me were long gone. So you could prove you were the one holding all the power. The one with all the control.”

His eyes narrowed. His mouth thinned.

And remained firmly shut.

She took one last step, closing all but the last few inches between them. So close, his deep, sharp inhale had his chest brushing against her breasts. His long, slow exhale ruffling the hair at her temple.

“You thought you could fuck me out of your system, but it didn’t work. Now here you are, pretending you’re above Lincoln and every other man who wants me. Poor Miles. Always trying so hard to be good and righteous and perfect. You must hate it, that you were so wrong.”

Pushing him, testing herself, she settled her palms on his chest. Felt the tremble that went through him at her touch. The way his heart leapt, as if trying to jump out of his chest.

And into her hands.

But no matter what he said about their past and his feelings for her, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he’d never trusted her with his heart.

She wondered if he ever would.

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