Page 51 of Reclaiming Love

She gave him a contemptuous look. “You need to value my opinion.”

“My girlfriend’s hot—and she has a great body, now that she’s working out. How about you drop it and we move on?” He gave her a lopsided grin, which soon disappeared when she didn’t answer. “What’s the matter, Mel? Still so cold? Do you need more time or something? ‘Cos I want you back.”

It was now or never. She felt the saliva drain right out of her mouth, shivered when the hairs at the back of her neck stood to attention. “That’s the thing. I’m not sure coming back is the right thing.” The words fell out, came out easier than she thought, even though she was trapped in a corner.

He took a step closer and sucked the sudden strength she’d found right out of here. Bending down until his face was level with hers, he ran a finger down her cheek. “It must have been some night.” She instinctively moved back until her back pressed firmly against the back of the chair. She felt her chest fall and rise quickly, and with a heroic shift of focus managed to stand up slowly, hoping he would move back. He didn’t.

“Matt,” she said, edging away.

He ran his thumb slowly over her bottom lip. “I’ve missed you, Mel. Last night, when we should have been together, I missed you real bad. And when I look at those pictures of you, I get lonely. You make me want to—” His voice was low, the intensity in his eyes slicing through her.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to know what she made him feel. But her legs started to buckle under her. She opened her eyes again, forced herself to stand taller. “You make me feel cheap and dirty when you say things like that.”

“You’re nothing like cheap and dirty.” He moved closer, until she could feel his breath on her face. When she turned her head away, he took her jaw in his hands and moved her face back to center so that she was forced to stare at him. She moved her hand to pull his thumb away, but he gripped it. “You’re my girl and when you’re not around—when you need your space, it’s all I have.”

Say it. But she couldn’t. Paralysis glued her rigid, rendered her motionless. “I want my photos back.”

He did a double take. “Why?” He still held her hand even as she tried to edge away, the front of the chair hard against the back of her knee.

She dared herself to meet his stare and looked right at him when the unspoken consequences of her request finally hit him. She felt powerless.

Smiling, he slipped her bag off her shoulder and moved his hand around her neck, his fingers nudging against her nape. “Why do you want them back, Melissa?”

She jerked at his touch. “You should never have taken them in the first place.”

“I don’t recall you complaining too much when I took them.” He breathed in. “God, you smell good enough to eat. You have no idea how you make me feel.”

She tried to pry his finger away from her neck. “We need to talk.” But he’d dipped his head and sunk his lips onto hers. A ball of anger rolled inside her when she felt his heavy tongue deep in her mouth. She tried again, to pry his fingers away, but without success.

He groaned into her mouth and, suddenly seeing red, she tried to lift her knee to kick him but couldn’t move. She wriggled until he finally pulled away, his lips wet, his eyes dark, and his heavy breathing the only noise between them.

“Asshole,” she said, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

He stepped back, grinning at her. “Told you I missed you.”

Her rage simmered silently below the surface. “You’re not listening to me.”

“I heard you. What do you want to talk about?” She saw the muscle at the side of his temple twitch.

“I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ve thought some more about us—you and me—and I don’t need anymore time to tell me what I already know.”

“And what would that be?” He moved back into her private space and leaned closer still, as close as he could without touching her.

“I can’t be with you anymore.”

“Can’t be? It sounds like someone’s stopping you.”

“I don’t want to be.” She tried to swallow lightly. “We don’t work.” She waited for his response.

Silence.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” She’d expected him to be that wheedling, needy Matt of a few days ago, the one who’d turned up on her doorstep and pleaded for her to think about it. This time, his gaze said otherwise.

“Seems to me that you’ve already made your mind up.” He didn’t move an inch.

Her heart pounded and she heard the rush of blood in her ears. And saw the bulge in his trousers. She swallowed again. She had to get out now.

If only it was as easy as walking out of his place and out of his life forever. And starting anew with Noah. “I want one thing.” She picked up her bag and held it in front of her stomach again. It was the one thing that kept his body from touching hers.

---