Page 48 of Hawke

He might with others, but he won’t with me.

I narrowed my eyes. “I want you to fix this.”

“No!” The word sounded final and absolute.

“Why not?” I asked. I deserved to know, and I didn’t plan on leaving until I did. “I’m waiting, and I will all night.”

Patience was definitely not a virtue of mine, so I hoped it didn’t come to that. What I said was no bluff, though. I was sick and tired of these head games. They ended tonight. Thankfully, I didn’t think it would come to me taking residence in the doorway because another quick glance confirmed he was just as annoyed as I was.

Good. I had let him control things between us long enough.

“Your membership was only a temporary one,” he told me before adding, “And, it’s since expired.”

“What?” I hadn’t seen that in any of the papers I had signed. I surely would’ve noticed it had something like that had been there. Granted, there had been a lot of stuff from contracts, confidentiality agreements, and more but… “You’re lying.”

I had no idea if he was telling me the truth or not. It didn’t really matter to me. For all I knew, he likely stuck it in the fine print. In fact, I was convinced that if it existed, then it was exactly what he had done.

“I suggest you reread all parts of the application, Miss Maxwell.”

Miss Maxwell.I hated when he used that tone of voice with me, and he damn well knew it, too. I’d been around him long enough to know he spoke to contractors, strangers, and others differently. For fuck’s sake, the two of us had been intimate. Had it not counted for anything?

“What did you do, Hawke? Did you hide it amidst a bunch of mumbo jumbo?” I was growing more irritated and definitely more upset with every passing second. It was then I realized he said it’d been a temporary application. “I want to reapply.”

My bottom lip jutted out and I didn’t care how childish I looked to him right now. He was being extremely vague and almost looked uncomfortable. I huffed in frustration, especially when tears sprang to the surface. I didn’t want to cry in front of him. Again. It seemed to be a common occurrence because Hawke was so damned infuriating. No matter what my intentions ever were in the beginning, he always found a way to screw with them in the end.

“No,” he told me once more. “Now, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

His voice cracked slightly, startling me. Was this a potential chink in his armor? “No. I’m not leaving until you give me one good reason why.”

I stepped back enough to gain some much needed distance from him, but not enough that he’d be able to slam the door in my face. I placed my hands on my hips and it was only when I glanced back over at him that I realized his state of undress.

I swallowed hard, trying not to notice the fact he was wearing nothing more than a towel. It was almost a monumental task to drag my eyes away from his ripped chest and torso. I was normally blindfolded, so seeing him so openly on display was fucking with my head more than it should. Yet, I could not easily tear my eyes away. I had to stop ogling him, so my eyes lingered for a few more seconds until eventually my gaze moved upward encountering his muscular, inked arms which were now crossed.

His stance echoed the annoyance I felt, so finally I returned my gaze to his, then watched the guilt creep into the darkened orbs. He was hiding something, and I then realized what. Standing on my tiptoes, I tried to see over his, but he blocked my way. I casually tried to look to both sides, but my view was also thwarted then, too.

Does Hawke have another woman in there with him?

The pain I felt in that moment was instantaneous and real. Hawke didn’t want me at his club, or his room, because he was here with someone else. I supposed I couldn’t blame him. After all, he had told me he hadn’t experienced any pleasure when we’d had sex. My chest tightened as I was once again reminded of my inadequacies where he was concerned. Still, my pride knew no limits, and it crumbled beneath his scrutiny.

“Who is she?” I didn’t really want to know the answer, but the need to find some closure won out.

“She?” he asked, playing the clueless card once more.

“The one in your room… the one you are trying to get rid of me for.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but there’s no one in my room.” He sounded so confident, and maybe he was actually being honest about something for a change.

“Fine,” I muttered. “It still doesn’t change the reason I’m here.”

“Which would be?” Another card was overturned, causing me to glare at him again.

“I want to reapply for another membership at Syn.” Everything was like pulling teeth when it came to him.

“I’ve already told you I won’t approve it.”

“Why?” I stepped closer, having to resist the urge to strangle him where we stood.

This time, there was no beating around the bush from him. “Because I don’t want you there.”

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