Page 81 of There's No Us Without You
All I can do is stare at him, unblinking, while my jaw aches under the pressure of my back teeth.
Emerson gives my thigh a pat under the table, then stands, using the chair to hold his weight. “Hold up, bro. I’ll walk you out.”
There’s a moment where the look on Emerson’s face as he glances over his shoulder has me sitting up straighter. I’m about to climb out of my chair and demand to know what the hell that was, when he disappears with my brother out the front door—and there’s no way I’m following them.
I need a moment to breathe.
“Well, that was fun,” Eden says, a soft smile on her lips as she strolls back over to stack the plates on the table.
Fun? That was fucking torture.
Without a second thought, I grab her wrist, forcing her to stop what she’s doing. The smile on her beautiful face falls, and her eyes widen as she focuses on our connection.
“Will?” A frown pulling in her eyebrows, Eden finally looks up.
“Stay away from Tyler, Eden. I mean it.” I grind the words out, almost hating that I have to say them.
Until I know his angle, I don’t want her anywhere near my brother.
“What? Why?”
“He’s not who you think he is,” I say, pounding my free hand on the table.
Eden jumps at the sound, her eyes now frantic, her mouth hanging open. The force of the contact has the plates clatteringagainst each other, and the salt and pepper shakers falling onto their sides.
When it comes to Tyler, no reaction could get someone seriously injured.
Or killed.
Goddamn it’s hot in here. My skin is tingling, sweat seeping through my pores. I’ll definitely need a cold shower after this.
Nostrils flaring, Eden’s cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink as she draws in a shaky breath. “Who is he then, Will?” She raises her eyebrows and bends at the knees to get into my face. “Tell me, because he was nothing but nice to me, and he doesn’t even know me. If there’s anyone I should stay away from, it’s you.”
I almost laugh when Eden slams her hand over her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut, as though I may just disappear if she keeps them closed long enough.
My grip on her wrist tightens at her words. Not because they offend me—I’ve had worse thrown at me—but because I haven’t seen this side of her before.
Fuck, she has fire in her, my skin burning up at her proximity.
Seems the woman is finding out exactly what she’s capable of, and if I wasn’t trying to protect her right now, I might even say I was proud that she’s finally learning to stand up for herself.
Better she stands up to me than that dickhead she was engaged to. I’ll punish her, of course, but in the best possible way. She just doesn’t realise she needs it yet.
With a tug on her wrist, I pull her closer so our faces are only centimetres apart. A calmness I haven’t felt in a while settles in my stomach at the closeness of her lips to mine. “Just stay away from him. I won’t say it again.”
All I get is her wide green eyes darting between mine, then she finally yanks her wrist from my grip and folds her arms over her chest. “And if I don’t?”
Well . . . fuck.
Pushing up from my chair, a smirk on my face, I run my eyes down her overdressed body. What I wouldn’t give to strip those clothes off her right now . . .
Instead, I take a deep breath and step into her space. “Do you really want to know what I’ll do to you if you disobey me, Eden?”
Her body heat consumes me, a tingling sensation in my chest growing in intensity. My need to pin her against the wall and show her how serious I am about her doing as she’s told threatens to send me into cardiac arrest.
Eden stumbles backwards, her eyes darting around the room, before she realises I’ve backed her against the wall.
This is familiar. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she likes being stalked.
