Page 51 of Made For You
We darted down their driveway, and I only glanced into the rearview mirror as I crested the hill that kept their home hidden from the road.
The tension in the car was too much, and I didn’t know how to ease it, especially since it was my own doing. Pulling out onto the main road, I told Aurora I thought her family was nice and that their home was beautiful. She immediately told me to can it.
After a moment, I tried again. “Sorry we had to leave early. I was… uh… having a hard time.”
“Is this your typical M.O., Talon? Push away anyone who could care about you? Not just me, but my family? Despite this being a fake marriage, they don’t know that. During dinner, we had them thinking we’re in the midst of wedded bliss, and they probably would’ve assumed we’re rushing home to jump in bed together had you not been such a dick. Hell, Alex most likely thinks I’m knocked up already. But the way you actedafterdinner is going to leave them questioning all sorts of things. If you would have spoken to maybe… anyone, you would’ve seen they immediately accepted you. Now, they’re going to wonder what is going on. We may live in a rural part of the South, but we’re not stupid.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why do you push people away, Talon? It seems like you use your grumpy exterior to keep everyone at a football field’s distance from you. Everyone except Dean, because he’s too hardheaded to do what you want.”
I maneuvered the car around a sharp turn that felt similar to my emotions today. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, I do.”
“Aurora,” I growled, my hands rotating back and forth on the steering wheel as I clenched it in my fists.
“Don’t youAurorame, Talon Beckett. You stop this car and tell me what has you so fucking pissed off that you practically rushed out of my family’s house like your ass was on fire.”
“No.”
“Why are you being such an asshole?” she shouted at me, and my fury was bubbling at the surface, ready to detonate. All it needed was the flicker of a flame to set it off. From the corner of my eye, I noticed her yanking off her rings again. She was struggling with the large diamond. When both were free from her finger, she shoved them into her bag.
Something about her removing the jewelry I’d given her was the last straw.
“I’m fuckingjealous, okay? You have this family who loves you unconditionally. Even after everything you told me about your annulment and the sleazeball exes, they still love you.”
“They don’t know about the annulment, remember? Only my dad and Andrew do.”
“I can guarantee your dad did not keep that information from your mother. God, you’re so jaded that you don’t even trulyseehow in love your parents are. And from what I’ve heard, people that in love don’t keep secrets from each other. Do you have any idea how lucky you are, Aurora? How I would havekilledfor that growing up?
“Instead, I was stuck having to marry you to convince my grandfather that I should have the position that isrightfullymine and full access to the trust fund my mother left me.”
We’d been arguing and stewing for so much of the trip that I was surprised we were already pulling into her driveway.
“So, you did it for money?” she asked quietly, but I knew she was on the verge of an outburst.
“No, that wasn’t the only reason.”
Before I could blink, she was out of the car and marching up to the porch.
“Aurora!” I hollered as I followed her inside the house. I couldn’t even remember if I turned the car off.
I found her in the bedroom, the door locked. My fist collided with the wood as I knocked repeatedly. “Aurora, we need to talk.”
The door swung open, and I nearly collided with the small sprite as she dashed from the bedroom. In the span of a minute or two, she changed her clothes and now wore a body-hugging blue dress that reminded me of the Caribbean.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
“Somewhere else. I expect you to be gone when I get back.”
My hands clenched the openings of my pockets as I stared at her in bewilderment. “And where would I go?”
“Use some of that money you like to throw around. I’m sure you can be resourceful.”
Her hips swayed with each step as she approached the front door, and I panicked. I’d never had someone who I wanted to stay leave me so abruptly. Usually, people were too busy trying to appease me and apologize for whatever they did to piss me off, because they were afraid I would destroy them, whether personally or in their business.
“Aurora!” I called out again as I dashed after her. She was already climbing into the passenger seat of a car idling on the street.
