Page 44 of For the Love of Lilah
She looked... incredible. Her hair windblown, her face flushed. She wore some sheer drapey dress that swirled around her legs in bleeding colors. Long multicolored columns of beads danced at her ears. She lifted a brow and closed the door.
“Well,” she said. “Make yourself at home.”
“Where the hell have you been?” The demand shot out, edged with frustration and worry.
“Did I miss curfew, Daddy?” She tossed a beaded bag onto the bureau. She’d lifted a hand to remove an earring when he whirled her around.
“Don’t get cute with me. I’ve been worried sick. You’ve been out for hours. No one knew where you were.” Or who you were with, he thought, but managed to bite that one back.
She jerked her arm free. He saw the temper flash hot into her eyes, but her voice was cool and slow and unmoved. “It may surprise you, Professor, but I’ve been going out on my own for a long time.”
“It’s different now.”
“Oh?” Deliberately she turned back to the bureau. Taking her time, she unfastened an earring. “Why?”
“Because we...” Because we’re lovers. “Because we don’t know where Caufield is,” he said with more control. “Or how dangerous he might be.”
“I’ve also been looking out for myself for a long time.” Deceptively sleepy, her eyes met his in the mirror. “Is the lecture over?”
“It’s not a lecture, Lilah, I was worried. I have a right to know your plans.”
Still watching him, she slid bracelets from her arms. “Just how do you figure that?”
“We’re—friends.”
The smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Are we?”
He jammed impotent hands into his pockets. “I care about you. And after what happened last night, I thought we... I thought we meant something to each other. Now, twenty-four hours later you’re out with someone else. Looking like that.”
She stepped out of her shoes. “We went to bed last night, and enjoyed it.” She nearly choked over the bitterness lodged in her throat. “As I recall we agreed there’d be no complications.” Tilting her head, she studied him. Her easy shrug masked the fact that her hands were balled tight. “Since you’re here, I suppose we could arrange a repeat performance.” Her voice a purr, she stepped closer to run a finger down the front of his shirt. “That’s what you want from me, isn’t it, Max?”
Furious, he pushed her hand aside. “I don’t care to be the second act of the evening.”
The flush vanished, leaving her cheeks pale before she turned away. “Congratulations,” she whispered. “Direct hit.”
“What do you want me to say? That you can come and go as you please, with whomever you please, and I’ll sit up and beg for the scraps from the table?”
“I don’t want you to say anything. I just want you to leave me alone.”
“I’m not going anywhere until we’ve straightened this out.”
“Fine.” The cuckoo chirped out again as she unzipped her dress. “Stay as long as you like. I’m getting ready for bed.”
She stepped out of the dress, tossed it aside, then walked over to her vanity in a lacy, beribboned chemise. Sitting, she picked up her brush to drag it through her hair.
“What are you so angry about?”
“Angry.” She set her teeth as she slapped the bristles against her scalp. “What makes you think I’m angry? Just because you’re waiting for me in my room, incensed that I had the nerve to make plans of my own when you didn’t have the time or inclination to spend an hour with me. Unless it was in the sack.”
“What are you talking about?” He took her arm, then yelped when she rapped the brush hard on his knuckles.
“I’ll let you know when I want to be touched.”
He swore, grabbed the brush and tossed it across the room. Too enraged to see the surprise in her eyes, he hauled her to her feet. “I asked you a question.”
She cocked her chin. “If you’ve finished your temper tantrum—” He nearly lifted her off her feet.
“Don’t push,” he said between his teeth.
