Page 240 of Hate Mates

Before it all changed.

That rich, sweet scent of cinnamon and clove that always clings to her hits my lungs as I stop behind her swaying ass.

I swallow thickly, mustering every ounce of control I have to keep my cock from rising to attention whenIneed to be paying it to the bar and who might be walking through that door at any moment. “You can’t be here.”

Her slender shoulders tense under her black top, and Emilia slowly turns her head to the right, eying me through thick, dark, loose curls. “Says who?”

Fuck.

Please, not tonight, Em.

I don’t have time for a showdown with her.

Glancing toward the entrance, I take a step closer. “Em, please. You need togo.”

She casually returns to her perusal of the song offerings, drumming her long, red nails on the glass. “I don’t think so.”

Barely suppressing a growl, I shift forward until her ass almost brushes my crotch. “Don’t make me?—”

“What? Throw me out?” She releases a little laugh that goes straight between my legs to the very spot I’m trying to ignore. “The only person who loves me more than your mother is your father, and you answer tothemwhen it comes to this place, no matter how much you like to pretendyouown it. I’d love to see their reaction to you kicking me out when all I did was show up for a drink on a Saturday night.”

Fuck.

She isn’t wrong about Mom and Dad, and if they find out I kicked her out, they will have questions I can’t sufficiently answer right now.

I dip closer, keeping my focus on the door and trying to keep my tone level. “It isn’t a good idea for you to be here tonight.”

Emilia turns her head toward me again, and this close, those little flecks of gold swimming in her wide caramel-colored eyes that used to hold so much love and affection for me glint. But now, all I see is wrath.

Maybe rightfully so.

But that’s beside the point.

She can hate me all she wants for what I’ve done and for tossing her out tonight. It’s for her own good, if she’d only listen.

“Why?” One of her brunette brows rises slowly. “Because you can’t stand to have me here? Because you hate me so much that I can’t even set foot in the bar we all grew up in without it making youuncomfortable?” She snorts. “Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, Will, but I don’t give afuckif you want me here or not. I came to have a drink, and I’m staying.”

Like fucking hell she is…

I grab her upper arm, and she jerks to face me fully, trying to free herself from my grip. The front door opens, drawing my attention toward it, and a cold wind blows in with the three men who step inside.

My heart stops.

Shit.

It’s too late.

Emilia tugs on my tightening hold. “I told you never to touch me again, and Imeantit.”

I dip my head until my lips brush her ear as hard, onyx eyes Ineverwanted to see her meet mine across the bar. “Listen carefully. I need you to play along and get the hell out of here at the first opportunity?—”

Her dark brows furrow as the fight drains from her almost instantly at my tone. “What?”

“Please, Em…” I try to keep the panic from my voice as the three new arrivals approach us, weaving through the busy weekend patrons packingSmitty’s.“Remember how your mom and dad met…”

“Will, what the fuck are you talking about?”

I drag her up against me and press my lips to hers before she can ask any more questions I can’t answer. She resists at first,her body and mouth stiff against mine, and I pull away before I have a chance to know if she would ever relax into it.

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