Page 32 of Mistletoe Missus
Tinsley’s eyes popped, and she bit her bottom lip. Fuck. Why does she have to go do that?
“Does that make you jealous, Mitt?” she asked as she emphasized the finalTin my name and trailed her fingers up my arm.
I grabbed her hand, pulled her in close and groaned, “No. But I won’t have him anywhere near my wife.”
Tinsley gasped, her lips partially parted with strands of wispy hairs sucking in and out of her mouth. Her chest heaved, and I was sure her heart was racing. The organ beat loudly in her ears and roared just as much as mine.
I wouldn’t let her see how spiteful I was of Beau Kingston. That motherfucker had his shot with Tinsley, and he screwed up. He blew his chance and now she was mine. All mine. No one else owned her—only me.
“The key...” Tinsley gulped as I brushed her hair back from her lips and tucked it behind her ear. “The key...”
“What about the damn key?” I asked in a low, husky tone as my thumb brushed against her bottom lip and I tried to make her forget.
We needed to move on from this confrontational battle of Mr. and Mrs. It was a war neither of us would win and only one would come out on top. The burning desire I had pressed up against her belly would be the clear winner in all of this, and I’d have her in my bed in two seconds flat.
“The key is for my best friend. Holly,” Tinsley whispered, snapping me out of my undesirable state.
Goddamn it. Tinsley was getting to me. She was in my head and fucking with my character. I wouldn’t be a jealous man pining after a woman. I was Mitt fucking Morgan. A confident, greedy man who took what he wanted, and I wanted her.
“Good,” I said and let her go. “Then it’s settled. Holly can have a key, and you will move in with me tonight.”
“Tonight?” Tinsley asked as her eyes widened and she stepped toward me. “What about my stuff?”
I replied with simplicity, “I’ll take care of that.”
Tinsley turned away, and I could tell she had lost herself in her own world. The wheels were spinning inside of that beautiful brain of hers, and I wondered what words she’d spit out next. She paced the floor until she stopped and peered up at me.Her eyes were full of kindness, uncertainty, and something I couldn’t describe. All of which I didn’t deserve after I had taken advantage of her because there was no inch of goodness in me, but the selfish man inside of me couldn’t let her go.
Tinsley sighed. “Listen. I’ll try this again. I don’t want to move in with you, and I don’t want to stay married to you because it’s obvious you want nothing to do with me.”
Wrong. I want to fuck your pretty little brains out, Wife.
Tinsley went on, disrupting my train of thought.
“We can’t do this, so why don’t we strike a deal?”
I stepped toward her. “I’m listening.”
Tinsley glanced around and added, “We can sign the divorce papers without your father knowing. I’ll draw up the paperwork, we’ll sign it, and we can both be set free.”
I pondered her proposal for a moment, thinking about the irony of the situation when it came to freedom. It was something I had never known because I was always under my father’s thumb—a lonely, dark place. He had kept me locked inside and wouldn’t let me escape, no matter how hard I fucking tried. The abuse I had gone through as a child messed with my screwed-up mind, and the manipulation of his twisted words had always won. My father owned me, and there was no way out but his way. Cyprus Morgan was both malicious and calculated, and Tinsley wouldn’t understand. She was on my father’s radar as much as I was, and that put her in harm’s way, but I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. Not even my flesh and blood.
I exhaled. “I’ll never sign divorce papers, not even if you force my hand. You’re mine, Tinsley. I fuckingownyou for the rest of your life.”
My feisty spit fire walked her sweet ass right up to me. Her green eyes were ablaze with determination, and I wanted to kiss her for being so damn stubborn, but I didn’t. Instead, I let her face me with her tempting lips only inches from mine, and herwarm breath caressed me. She was like a ray of fucking sunshine against the darkness of all my sins.
“We’ll see about that,” Tinsley whispered right before she spun around on her heels and headed toward the exit.
“I’ll see you at home, Wife!” I hollered after her.
I swear I heard her breathe the word “asshole,” which made me smile. Her strawberry-blonde hair swayed with her fired-up strut out of the restaurant, and I knew it was going to be a rough ride home. She’d take my limousine as I had promised, and I’d find my ride to the Morgan Estate. This whole marriage was off to a rocky start, and I didn’t know if I’d ever find my way.
I guess it was a good thing she forgot to take the damn compass she had bought for me.
I might need it someday.
SEVENTEEN
Bitter Brat
