Page 114 of Hot for the Jerk

She was a terrified mother lion and needed someone to lose her shit on.Unfortunately, that person was me.

“However, I will say …” I swallowed, after realizing I’d actually backed myself right into a corner in the kitchen—literally.“I maybescannedwhat you have up right now.”

She spun around, raced back to the table and slammed the laptop closed before rounding on me, fury and betrayal all over her face.

“I saw a lot of words that are very similar to what we’re proposing …”

That fiery heat only intensified, and it was like she pressed a button to initiate spike sequence.She was suddenly very prickly, and I knew right then and there, fear had taken over and there was no talking her out of this fugue state of rage.

So why the fuck did I keep talking then?

No idea.

“We’re also interested in the land in order to expand our business ventures,” I went on.

Stop.Fucking.Talking.

“So, you obviouslydidsneak a look at the proposal when you stayed at my house.And now you’re trying to copy us.”

“No, I didn’t.”I exhaled in frustration.“Raina, you’re not thinking clearly.You’re upset and scared over Marco, and you’re taking it out on me.”

“Donottell me how I’m feeling,” she practically roared.“You just admitted that you were in a room withallof our sensitive business information.The fact that you said youdidn’tlook at any of it is you just trying to cover your ass.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”I asked, searching my brain, and my six months of grad school for a way to de-escalate this situation and help her see clearly.Help her realize I was not the enemy.Not anymore.

“All the fucking time, apparently,” she blurted out, before returning to the table to gather all of her things.“This was such a terrible fucking idea.We never should have come here.”She took off upstairs, and I chased after her.

Grabbing her duffel bag from the closet in the guest room, she started to load up her clothes and belongings.

“Raina,” I said, trying to grab her by the shoulders.

She jerked away from me.“No, Jagger.You snooped.Just admit it.”

“For fuck’s sake, woman, will you justlistento me?”I tried to grab her shoulders again, so she could look into my eyes and see that I wasn’t lying.That I didn’t snoop or do any of the things she had accused me of.

Applying just a small amount of pressure, not enough to hurt her or anything, I held her shoulders and made her stop throwing things from the dresser drawers into the bag on the bed.

With a huff, she stopped fighting me and let me square her body to mine.Gingerly, I released her shoulders.I bent my knees a little.“I didn’t snoop.I swear to you.I’ve never lied to you, Raina.Not ever.Sure, we didn’t always get along, but I’ve never been dishonest with you.”She refused to look at me.

“Look at me,” I said, adding a bit of edge to my tone, then softening with a, “please,” at the end.

Reluctantly, she met my gaze.

“Why are you doing this?”I asked, my chest aching, pulse racing at the idea of her leaving like this.Not like this.Please, not like this.“I can see it in your eyes that you don’t actually believe I did what you’re accusing me of.YouknowI’m not that person.If it’s just because you’re scared for Marco, then I get it.And you can stand here and beat my chest with your tiny fists until you feel better.But if it’s something else, if you’re pushing me away for another reason, I need to know.”

Her jaw was once again clenched tighter than a drum, and that same muscle pulsed.I wanted to reach out and poke it, to keep her from getting a headache or chipping a tooth, but I refrained.Tears filled her eyes, but never fell as she stood there, staring at me in defiance.In a pain I wanted so desperately to take away.

“This isn’t working,” she finally said.“I want to go home.Please take me home.”

“For good?”

All she did was nod before taking off across the hall to begin packing up Marco’s belongings.

I stood there in the guest room, unable to understand what the fuck just happened.How did we go from almost confessing our love for each other last night, to this?To her leaving, and telling me it wasn’t working.

Confusion and heartache took up residence in every cell of my body as I helped her load up her stuff into my truck.I shot off a text to my brothers, letting them know what was going on, but ignored every one of their responses—and there were a lot of them.

We climbed into my truck and started the tense drive back to the vineyard in silence.“How are you going to get Marco from the school?”I asked, my voice not sounding like my own.It was almost like I was speaking into a tunnel.

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