Page 72 of All Wrong
“On that, we are in complete agreement. In fact, we should just avoid each other from now on.”
Pine Ridge was a small town. Factor in The Zone and the family get-togethers, and that was easier said than done.
“We can’t avoid each other completely.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her face said it all. She wasn’t planning on staying in Pine Ridge.
“You lost your job, didn’t you? Because of what Nicki asked you to do.”
Her lips tightened. “Officially, I’m on a leave of absence.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Why do you care?”
He couldn’t explain why he did what he did next. He only knew that, one moment, six feet separated them. The next, she was crushed against his body, his hard cock pressed against her belly, and he wished there weren’t layers of clothing between them.
“Isn’t it enough that I do?” he growled.
She pushed at his chest. “No, it isn’t. What’s the matter? Isn’t your little girlfriend giving you what you need?”
He froze. “What girlfriend?”
“The one young enough to be your daughter,” she spat. “Black hair. Crimson tips. Perky tits. Ring a bell?”
She squirmed again, but his arms remained banded around her.
“You mean Candace?” he asked, confused.
Her nose flared. Yeah, she meant Candace.
“What makes you think we’re together?”
Her blue eyes were dark with anger. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because she answers your mobile phone first thing in the morning. Or maybe becauseyou walk her to work and engage in blatant PDA just hours after you fucked me within an inch of my life and then snuck out like a fucking coward.”
She spat the words like venom, but all he felt was a fire igniting in his chest and expanding outward. Corinne wasjealous.
“Candace is not my girlfriend. She’s AJ’s sister.”
“The two are not mutually exclusive,” she said, pushing at his chest again.
“Stop fighting me for a minute and listen, okay? It’s not what you think. Nicki and I have been helping Candace and her brother since we first opened The Zone. She was in my apartment because she wanted to thank me for covering for AJ the night of the fair. And I hugged her that day in front of Grassroots because that’s what friends do. She’d spent all night in the ICU with her brother.”
Corinne stopped struggling and looked up, searching his eyes. “Is that true?”
“Yes.”
When she spoke again, her voice was softer, but still held an edge. “Then, why did you sneak out? Why have you been avoiding me?”
Because I felt too much. Because I want more. Because I am all wrong for you.“I thought it was for the best.”
Her body slumped, going from rigid to lax. “Right. Because it shouldn’t have happened.”
The anger was no longer in her voice. In fact, her tone held no emotion at all. She pushed again, and this time, he let her go.
She turned her back to him. “You should go.”
He didn’t want to. He wanted to pull her back into his arms. To tell her that no matter what he said, he wasn’t sorry for what had happened between them. But he couldn’t say any of that without digging a deeper hole.
