Page 20 of Tormented Bastard
Push and Pull
Chase
As we drove down the road, Eden talked a mile a minute. It was something she’d always done and it was fucking adorable. I didn’t want her to be adorable. I wanted her to be bitchy and mean, pushy and the big city princess I imagined she’d become so I could send her on her way without thinking twice about it.
Much to my dismay, she was not following the plan.
“Did you see those two women fighting over toilet paper? And I’m not talking soccer moms here. Nope, these were women with canes! I was waiting to see blood.”
“Yeah, I saw it. Both of them are grandmothers of some of the players I coached at the high school. They’re also best friends except for when it comes to toilet paper, apparently.”
Eden laughed, and it hit right in the center of my chest. “Look at that. The island grump made a joke.”
“Ha ha.”
“Anyway,” she continued, looking out the front windshield, “Aubrey’s sweet.”
“She is. I don’t know how Chance ended up with her.”
“She’s pretty too.”
I bit my lip to keep the smile off my face. “She’s beautiful. Like I said, not sure how that meathead ended up with her.”
Silence reigned in the cab as we pulled through the gates of my house. Once we parked under the covered part of the driveway behind her SUV, she turned in her seat toward me. “Do you like her?”
“Of course I like her. But I know what you’re asking, and I’m insulted.” I lifted my chin, but there was a painful tightness in my throat, making it hard to get the next words out. The fact that a question like that could hurt me when I should have laughed it off was just one more reason I needed to stay on my side of the house.
“Is that what you think of me, Eden? That I’d want another man’s wife? If that’s the case, you never knew me at all.” I shoved open my door with more force than necessary and slammed it behind me, hard enough to make the truck rock. I yanked open the back door just as Eden came around.
“Chase, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way at all.”
I stopped gathering bags and turned to her. “You know what? It doesn’t matter how the hell you meant it. You don’t get to know how I spend my time or who I spend it with. You made that crystal clear the last time I saw you.”
With her hands on her hips, she stared into my eyes and her jaw bunched. The wind blew the strands of hair that escaped her ballcap into her face. “I…” She swallowed and tried again. “I was jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Well, yeah. You said she was beautiful and sweet and you can’t figure out how a man like Chance got her.”
“That was a joke. He and I give each other shit all the time. And I was being honest. Aubrey is beautiful and sweet. She’s also married, but even if she weren’t, she’s a pain in my ass like a sister.”
“And here I thought I was the only pain in your ass.”
I stepped toward her and she retreated, her back hitting the side of the truck. I caged her in and leaned close. With the wind kicking up around us, her scent surrounded me like a cocoon. Her eyes softened, desire bright in them. Her lips parted, and her tongue flicked across her full bottom lip. That small motion was enough to scramble my circuits.
I wanted to strip her out of the snug tank top and little denim shorts that were driving me crazy and fuck her against the side of my truck. There was something about Eden, always had been, that made me want to possess and protect. I always thought of her as mine, even the first time I saw her.
But that wasn’t going to happen, no matter how badly I wanted her. And even though I had to keep her at arm’s length, I wanted to drive her a little crazy as well. Let her see how it felt.
“You’re not a pain in my ass, you just make me crazy. You’re not just beautiful, you’re my every fantasy come true. It’s all I can do not to touch you the way I want to when you’re so damn close. So rest assured, Eden. You’re the only one that plagues me.”
I glanced up to the storm-darkened sky before looking back down into her desire-filled eyes.Fuck me running. My cock hardened painfully behind the zipper of my jeans. If I didn’t step away soon, I was going to do something that we’d both regret.
“We better hurry up or we’re going to get soaked,” I said, my voice gruff. I pushed off the side of the truck and turned away from her before she could reply.
The only sound between us was the howling wind that signaled dangerous weather was imminent. We were able to get all the bags inside just in time for the bottom to fall out and sideways rain to commence.
I left Eden in the kitchen and went to check the generator to make sure it was ready for the eventual electrical outage. With the wind and rain already pounding the island, it was only a matter of time before we lost power. I also went out and retrieved her suitcase from her rental, thankful we’d moved her vehicle into the covered area before we went to the store. By the time I got back, she’d already put everything away and was gathering the plastic bags into a pile.
