Page 62 of The Rebel

She won’t listen to me. She doesn’t believe me when I say I’m no good for her. So I’ll have to show her.

It’s the only thing I could think of on the spur of the moment when she kept haranguing me at the departure gate. Take her to the place where I spent a lot of time growing up so she can see for herself why kids like me become closed off and eventually push away anyone who’s foolish enough to get close.

I’m not a complete idiot. I know my heart is fissured and open to her a tad. But I can never give myself one hundred per cent, not in the way she expects and deserves.

That’s what guts me most in our fucked-up scenario. She’s so damn deserving of the perfect guy, the perfect house, the perfect dream, but she doesn’t know it.

She’s fallen for me, like I have for her, but whereas I’m tough enough to make the smart choice and walk away, she has visions of happily ever-after.

I’ll show her in Sydney that there’s no such thing.

‘You’ve gone quiet.’ She bumps me with her shoulder. ‘Are you imagining all the ways I can relieve your tension?’

My cock throbs. ‘You promised no more flirting on this flight.’

She holds her hands up and feigns surprise. ‘Hey, I was just talking about a massage. Can I help it if you hear innuendo in every single thing I say?’

‘You’re incorrigible.’

‘Thank you.’ She does a mock curtsy in her seat, her grin making her eyes sparkle, and it hits me.

I may think it’s going to be easy walking away from Daisy.

I may know it’s the smart choice for both of us.

But when it comes to actually ending this for good, it’s going to rip my fucking heart out.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Daisy

Idon’t play fair.

I’ve done everything in my power to tease Hart on the flight from Melbourne, and as we touch down in Sydney I feel like flinging my arms overhead in victory.

I wanted to show him what he’s missing out on by not giving us a chance. I achieved my goal, plus got an added bonus of seeing visual proof that he still wants me as badly as I want him. Though seeing his boner proved somewhat problematic for me, making me practically squirm with wanting to do something about it.

I might have talked the talk but inside I’m burning up. I’ve never experienced such lust before, the kind of craving for a guy that’s irrational and confrontational and sensational.

I don’t envision doing naughty things with men on planes as a rule, but sitting next to Hart, deliberately brushing up against him, taunting him, only served to ratchet up my desire to unbearable levels.

We join the taxi rank outside the airport and are soon ensconced in air-conditioned comfort. I haven’t been to Sydney for years and I forgot the humidity makes my hair resemble a frizz ball.

He hasn’t said much since we disembarked but I can see the tension in his rigid neck muscles, and in the clench of his jaw. Maybe I’ve pushed him too far but I don’t care. He needs his stubborn ass kicked for being so closed off to the possibility of us.

‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll see.’

I snort my disgust. ‘You know this grand plan of yours to push me away isn’t going to work, right?’

He stares straight ahead like he hasn’t even heard me.

I poke him in the arm. ‘Hey, I’m talking to you.’

He slowly turns his head, like looking me in the eye is the last thing he wants to do, and when I see his expression I know why. He’s in pain. The kind of pain I know well because it’s exactly what I felt back on Gem Island when I discovered he’d left without a word.

‘This isn’t a game.’ He’s gutted, the agony in his eyes making me want to undo my seat belt and fling myself into his arms. ‘I need you to understand where I came from, why I am the way I am, why I can’t give you anything.’

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