Page 77 of Toxic

“You’re a jerk, Toxic,” I snapped and swept past him into the house. This wasn’t like me at all, but he’d left me behind, left me here to worry about him for two days.

I slammed the door behind me. He could just rot out there in the heat for a while so I could cool down. That was my plan anyway. Somehow, I’d already forgotten Toxic was the kind of man who did whatever the hell he wanted.

CHAPTER 27

Toxic

It didn’t matter that I’d spent years surrounding myself with women. I didn’t understand them. Was sure I probably never would. I watched Billie stalk into her house, slamming the door behind her, as anger rose up in me.

Killing one asshole that Brently had hired hadn’t taken the edge off of my frustration. And now I was back here and instead of ignoring me, she was yelling at me. I was moving before I even realized it, following her into the house.

“Not this time, Lightning,” I told her.

She whirled around, glaring at me. “What?”

“You’re going to have a seat right there,” I pointed at the dining room table, “and talk to me.”

She planted her hands on those sexy hips and gave me a look so challenging it made me want to grab her, toss her over my shoulder, and take her somewhere to teach her why it wasn’t smart to mouth off to a frustrated, impatient man. A man who’dbeen doing his damndest to keep his hands to himself even though he was living with the sexiest woman he’d ever met.

“You’re not the boss of me, Boone Sutton. Just because you give an order doesn’t mean I’m going to jump to obey you.”

I blew out a breath, trying to keep a hold of my temper. She was in a mood and I didn’t have my usual amount of patience. Laid back was typically my style, but it was difficult to let things roll off me when I’ve been dreaming about the infuriating female standing there, giving me a piece of her mind.

“Why are you so upset?” I asked between gritted teeth. I wondered if she was able to tell that she was shoving me toward the line? The one that once I crossed it, nothing I did to her was going to be my fault? The one that once crossed, demanded I fuck the attitude right out of her? Did she know? Evidently not, because she kept pushing.

“That’s none of your business,” she replied. “Nothing I do is actually any of your business.” She said it like it came as a surprise to her too. “You know what?”

“What?” I growled. The only thing I knew was that I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say. That was a given.

“This is my ranch.”

I blinked at her in confusion. Never once had anyone said it wasn’t.

“And I don’t have to put up with this.”

“With what?” I asked, perplexed.

“You.” She stepped toward me.

Bad idea.

She reached over and grabbed something off the little end table she kept in the hallway. Giving me an eat shit and die kind of look, she clicked the pen, then scribbled away on the checkbook.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched her make a check out to me. “What’re you doing?”

“Thank you for your help.”

Every muscle in my body tensed up. This was a bad move on her part. That line was looming directly ahead of me. “Don’t,” I warned her.

She ignored me. “Here is the first half of your payment. I’ll calculate the rest of the time you’ve spent here and make sure you get the rest soon.”

I stared down at the check she was holding out to me. She thought she could fire me? She thought she couldpayme? I took the check, seeing a flash of something that looked like disappointment in her eyes before she masked it.

It took me a minute to speak because I was so fed up with all of this. “You firing me, Billie?” It didn’t fucking matter. I never worked for her. I was never planning to take money from her. I was here because I wanted to be. To help this stubborn woman because she belonged to me.

“Yes.” She looked smug for about two seconds, then shocked as I ripped up the check into tiny pieces of confetti.

“Good.”

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