Page 56 of Degrees of Control

“Leave,” James hissed through his teeth. “Or I’ll show you fuckin’ ‘aggressive.’”

“Fine.” Hawthorne threw his crowbar over his shoulder like a gentleman’s cane and gave Charlie with a look of weary disapproval. “You can do way better than this douchebag, short chick.”

James growled like an angry dog. “I said,get the fuck out of here.”

“Okay, okay, later, kids.”

Hawthorne sauntered out of the apartment and James slammed the now-broken door behind him. He turned very slowly and stared at her. “What. The fuck. Was that?”

“Friend of Belinda’s. So sorry he interrupted. Cup of tea?”

James’ glare registered at around fifty thousand volts. “Strange menbreak into your homeat night looking for money? When you’reall alone?”

“So…you’re saying you don’t want a cup of tea?”

“Charlotte!”

Urgh. She was terrible at confrontation. How was she supposed to explain her living situation to a man who looked like a crazed archangel from the murder parts of the Bible? “Hawthorne’s the first one to, you know, penetrate the apartment’s exterior.Usually they just knock for a bit and leave. But none of them are dangerous, they’re just sort of stupid. And high.”

James pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus Christ, Charlotte.”

“I guess I can just forget about you calling me Charlie, huh?”

“Goddamn it, this is fuckin’ serious. You can’t be at homeby yourselfwith men breakin’ in.”

She sighed. “I’ll speak to my landlord, see if I can get new locks on the doors and windows.”

“You don’t need new locks on the doors, you need to move the fuck out of this neighborhood tonight.”

“I told you, I can’t afford to do that.”

“You can’t afford to be safe in your own home?”

Charlie winced. “It’s not ideal, I admit that, but I know Hawthorn. He’s nice. It’s Belinda’s fault for not paying him.”

James gripped his hair so hard, it looked though he intended to pull it all out. “You’re a sitting duck for whatever junkies your roommate forgot to pay before she fucked off to Canada. How could you put yourself in this situation, Charlotte?”

“Whoa, tell me how you really feel.”

He advanced on her. “Okay, I will. The thought of you being robbed or beaten orworse, makes me want to kill someone. A girl like you should never have been allowed to live in a place like this in the first place.”

Charlie put her hands on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re a tiny, little yoga teacher and it’s not fucking safe.”

“Okay, this ‘man of the house’ act is starting to get obnoxious.”

James’ laughter was cold as ice. “That’s funny because a minute ago you were lapping up my caveman shit. Maybe the smart thing to do would be to put you over my knee and spank your naive little ass.”

Charlie froze as her brain and sex struggled to process such a perplexing idea.

James patted his thighs. “Come on, Charlotte, you want daddy to teach you a lesson?”

Thatsnapped her out of her sexy contemplation. She clenched her fists, wishing she had a projectile handy so she could chuck it at his obnoxious face. “Look, I know you’ve got a lot of protective feelings blaring through you right now but it’s uncool of you to use my fantasies against me. Do it again and you can leave and not come back.”

James placed both hands on his head and exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry.Fuck!”

He looked so lost, so frustrated, Charlie’s annoyance evaporated. Really, his reaction wasn’t totally uncalled for. Hayley would have beaten Hawthorne senseless. Jordan would have maced him. Sophia would have had her airlifted to the nearest police station. All her friends hated where she lived, all of them wanted her to move somewhere else and what was James if not a friend?

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