Page 52 of A Labor of Hate
“Hewhat?”
The heat in Colt’s voice surprised me, but not nearly as much as the unbridled rage when I looked in his direction.His fair complexion flushed a mottled red.The tension in his jaw could’ve rivaled a drum head, and danger sparked in his eyes.
It was… hot.Reallyhot.
I shrugged.“Apparently, he’s got a thing for married women.Pregnantmarried women, no less.”
Colt clenched his fists, his knuckles white and his jaw flexing.When he spoke, the words were forced through gritted teeth.“What did he do?”
I blinked hard, still trying to process Colt’s reaction.Any self-respecting man should’ve been angered by these developments, but he was downrightlivid.Seething, spitting mad, if the tension radiating off his body was any indication.I’d never seen him this enraged, even when spit on by a drug dealer known for targeting kids.Colt was always,alwaysin control.
“I didn’t let him do much of anything before I kneed him in his Crown Jewels.”
That seemed to pacify Colt for now, since he leaned back against the wall with me.His jaw didn’t relax, though, and his fists barely did.It took two rounds of breathing in for four, holding for two, and breathing out for eight before he finally spoke.“And that’s why you left?”
I nodded, returning my attention to the ceiling.It had one of those plaster-like finishes.Spackle, I think?Whatever it was called, the raised bumps looked like a family of amoebae.Or maybe a field of dandelions with their white tufts sticking out in all directions.
“What’s wrong with me?”
I hadn’t realized I’d spoken the words out loud until Colt turned to me, one of his dark brows raised.“What do you mean?”
“Why is it the only man to show any interest in me in the last six months was a total jerkwad?”That wasn’t the word I preferred to use, but the situation sucked enough without adding anything to Dominick’s swear jar.“Is there something wrong with me that I only attract the crazies?Is it my personality, my luck?”I pulled my hands through my frizzy curls, my voice cracking.“Is it my hair?”
“Definitely not your hair.”He pulled one of my curls, his dark eyes tracing it as it sprung back into its coil.Just like he’d done during the flirting demonstration.And, just like then, it made my stomach flip and my breath catch in my throat.Maybe Iwasdefunct.“As for your personality, I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask.”
“Gee, thanks for the confidence boost, Colt.”
He chuckled, though he had the decency to blush.“What I mean is, you show me a different side of you than you show to everyone else.They get your polite smiles and no-nonsense mask you put on at work, and I get… sass, snark, pranks, and a full repertoire of glares.”
I groaned.So, itwasmy personality that did me in.
He continued, the faintest ghost of a smile on his lips.“But I also get ridiculous coasters with the worst puns I’ve ever heard on them.I get to see you laugh at cheesy movies, nearly set the toaster on fire, and tear apart the house just to find a coffee maker.”He chuckled softly.“Quite honestly, Lex, I’m not surewhatto make of you.”
“You’re just oozing compliments today, aren’t you?”I said flatly.“If I had my way, we’d only be friendly acquaintances, and you’d never, ever find out what a disaster I am outside of work.I’d be able to treat you like everyone else.”I sighed and counted the spackle dots around the biggest blob to my left.“But I…can’t.”
“Good.”
I jerked my head in his direction.Surely, I heard that wrong.
The corner of his mouth lifted in his trademark smirk.Rather than elaborate, though, he circled the conversation back to my original question.“So, if it makes you feel any better, I’m inclined to think you simply have rotten luck in the dating department.”
“Now you’re just being nice to make me feel better.It’s weird.”And made my insides twist and tingle like they were under attack by a swarm of bees.
He spared me a glance, his smirk firmly in place.“So, I can’t tease you and I can’t be nice, either?What exactly am I supposed to do, then?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, my shoulders slumping in exasperation.“It’s like, no matter what you do, I never know how to react.Do I verbally spar with you?Do I laugh?Do I punch you?I never know.”
“Do I get any say in which one you choose?Because I have some recommendations.”
I laughed, shaking my head so it rolled against the wall.“No, you don’t, but thanks for asking.”
“It was worth a shot,” he muttered.
We sat in companionable silence, my thoughts swinging like a pendulum between reliving Liam’s advances and puzzling through Colt’s current behavior.This was the longest he’d voluntarily sat this close to me, and I wasn’t sure I liked what his proximity did to my nerves.It was like every single synapse was tuned to his frequency.Every.Single.One.He couldn’t so much as breathe without my body locking onto the movement.I was the heat-seeking missile, and he was the inferno.
Then again, it had been that way with him since day one.
It was super annoying.
