Page 36 of Rush of Jealousy

He stalks toward me and slams his hand on the surface of the table. “Stop!” he bellows, seething with anger. “This stops. Today. Right now. Give this up.”

“No! You don’t own me or control me.” I am pissed. Who does he think he is?

“I will doanythingto protect you.”

My eyes shoot daggers at him. “What does that mean, Graham?”

He looks between me and his guest. “Well, I guess now is a great time to get acquainted with the new bodyguard.”

7

I shake my head frantically back and forth.

No.

Nooo.

I stomp my feet over his overbearing caveman tendencies. There is no way I am going to go about my normal life with a freaking bodyguard attached to my hip. Graham is nuts. He has lost it. Gone clinically insane.

I watch in silence as the man steps out from his stance in the corner and walks hesitantly over to us. He has been watching this tirade the entire time.

“Who’s he a bodyguard for? Me or you? Because if you keep this up, Graham fucking Hoffman”—I wave my finger angrily in his face—“I’ll make you wish you had protection fromme.”

A sexy smirk slips from his stern expression, and I want to smack it right off his face.

“Are you really stomping your feet?”

I stare down at my angry foot. I guess I am. I look back up to his eyes and narrow mine. “Do not turn your actions into humor! There’s nothing funny about this!”

Graham turns his attention to his hired man. “Angela, this is Trevor. Trevor, this is my feisty and sassy woman.”

Trevor tips his head in a single nod. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

I give him a weak smile and focus back on Graham. “No.”

“You didn’t even hear what I have to say.”

“No.”

He sighs. “Angie, be reasonable.”

“No!”

He shoves hair off his forehead, grasping the back of his neck with the palm of his hand. “You are the most exasperating and frustrating woman I’ve ever come across on this entire planet.”

“Good. But the answer is still no.”

“Listen to—”

“I’m not doing this, Graham. There is no us. It was just sex.”

He flinches at my words.

“It was good sex too,” I admit. “But I cannot do what you are trying to do here. Nope. No. No!”

“Angie…”

“Stop. Just stop. In the next three minutes, I am going to pack my bag up and gather my belongings. Then I am going to walk out your door. Alone. And if you are lucky, I may consider associating with you in the future.” He can be a booty call, if he’s lucky.

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