“I actually saw them out together yesterday,” Rhonda said.
“Ooh, where?” Amy’s excited, gossipy tone grated on his nerves.
“The coffee shop around the corner.”
Dillon jerked around to glare at the both of them. “Don’t the two of you have something you could be doing?”
Rhonda’s brow furrowed. “Somebody’s grumpy.”
Amy just grinned. After Rhonda wandered away, she picked up her drink tray off the table beside him. “If you have any interest in her, Boss, I’d move on it.”
She disappeared into the crowd moments later, leaving him to ponder how very much he wanted to hit something. Or march over there and plant one on Emma. Stake his claim on her right there at the bar, where everybody would be sure to see it.
* * *
“What happened to your hand?”
Seated behind the desk in the office, Emma stared down at the cuts and bruises lining the knuckles of Dillon’s right hand. He stood off to her left, leaning on the desk. She called him in to take a look at the surveillance videos. She found their company thief, caught her red-handed, and she needed Dillon to see the videos before she could take action.
“I felt the need to hit something, so I did.” Tension radiated off him. He stared at the computer screen, a deep scowl etching his forehead.
Emma pursed her lips. If that wasn’t like a man. “How very barbaric of you. Who pissed you off?”
His gaze shifted to her, his intense eyes pinning her to the spot, but he didn’t say anything. After a moment, he turned back to the computer. “Heard Ronnie asked you out.”
That
was what bothered him so much?
He
was jealous of
her
? Oh of all the egotistical…
She jerked her gaze back to the monitor and jabbed the key to set the next video to play. “Yeah, so?”
“You didn’t actually go, did you?”
At the obvious irritation in his tone, she turned her head. A muscle in his jaw ticked and the hand on the desk curled into a fist. The sight set the anger in her stomach rising to steaming proportions.
“Maybe.” She glared at the computer screen.
Okay, so she went out with Ronnie…like friends. She made it very clear anything romantic didn’t interest her. Hell, she went out with the girls too. She and Rhonda went out for coffee the other day.
More to the point, she created a life for herself here in Hastings. Dillon gave her the keys to the house. She went to the city three times in the last week to gather necessities—dishes and silverware, her bed, a couch, the dining table, and coffeemaker. Things she needed to live on. Working at the club ended up being a plus. The friends she made here helped her to slowly move herself in. By Wednesday afternoon, she had enough to live on until she could pack the rest of her house.
All of which made her feel a lot less like she wrapped her world around a man who’d never love her in return.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” She didn’t bother to hide the annoyance in her tone. He acted like a spoiled brat and it irked her no end. Never mind the way he all but flaunted Leila in front of her the other night. He had no right to judge her.
Dillon’s gaze snapped to hers, fury blazing in his dark eyes. “You can’t see him, Em!”
This time the anger got to her. Rage rose within her before she could stop it. “Why?” She spun toward him and met his glare with one of her own. “Because you forbid it? Go ahead. Tell me it’s against company policy. I dare you.”
He smacked his palm down onto the desk, his face suddenly inches from hers. “Because you’re mine, dammit!”
Before she could get a word in edgewise, his mouth swooped down and claimed hers, his kiss hard and possessive. He was proving a point—he was jealous and they both knew it.
God help her it was sexy. No man had ever gotten jealous over
her
before. It made her want to lean into him, snake her hand around the back of his head, and kiss him back with everything she had.
Except she couldn’t forget seeing him with Leila.
Her hands trembling with a lethal combination of need and fury—at him for putting her in this position in the first place and at herself for responding to it—she shoved against the solid wall of his chest, shoved hard, and wrenched her mouth from his.
“Grow up!” She held his gaze and surged to her feet.
He didn’t move, didn’t back away. His chest heaved, his eyes still stormy and intense.
“You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to decide you don’t want me anymore, but nobody else can have me either. I’m not some toy you can decide to pick up and play with whenever the mood suits you.”
With that, she shoved past him, but stopped in the doorway.
“I saw you kiss Leila. I was prepared for you to move on. Hell, I knew it was coming, but you could have at least waited until I got off shift.” She let the door slam behind her and stormed from the room, all the way downstairs to the bar. There, she sank onto a stool with a huff.
“Give me a shot, Ronnie.”
“Bad night?” Ronnie set a shot glass down in front of her and filled it with a deep, amber liquid.
She knocked it back in one swallow, grimacing when the fiery liquid burned a path down her throat. When Ronnie refilled her glass, she knocked that one back too, but the warmth spreading through her did nothing to unravel the hard knot of anger in her stomach.
“Want another?” When she shook her head, he picked up the glass. “You and the boss man have words?”
She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. “That man is insufferable.”
Ronnie shook his head. “Only when he’s riled. When he cools off, he’ll come around.”
Then he wandered off, leaving her alone to fume.
She couldn’t do it anymore. Working for him had been a very bad idea. For her own sake, she needed to unravel her life from his. Outside of their connection to Annie, she didn’t want anything to do with him. Her heart couldn’t take it.
Sliding off the stool, she went back up to the office. She’d give him two weeks’ notice, starting tomorrow. Pulling the door open, she came to an abrupt halt. Dillon stood on the other side of the threshold, his arm out, like he was reaching for the handle.
“I was just about to come find you,” he said. “We need to talk.”
The look in his eyes got to her, and for a moment, she froze. His heart shone bright in his eyes. Sadness and regret added a haunted shadow to the dark depths that wanted to melt her resolve.
She stiffened her spine. “I came back up here to give you two weeks’ notice. I quit. I’ll give you time to find a replacement, but that’s it. We’ll exchange Annie through your mother. I won’t take her away from you. I refuse to punish her because of this, but—”
“She’s mine.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the end of the desk behind him. “I opened the letter from the lab yesterday.”
“Oh.” Caught off guard, she fumbled for a minute and glanced at her feet. “Well. Good.”
“What happened with Leila isn’t what you think.” The dejection in his tone matched the look in his eyes.
The memory of him and Leila flitted through her mind, a twinge of pain surging through her chest. She furrowed her brow and folded her arms across her chest. “Spare me the details, if you don’t mind. What you do on your own time is your business.”
“Em…” He reached out to her, but she sidestepped his hand, shook her head.
“I’ve had enough of this game. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have me and her at the same time, and you made it abundantly clear you don’t want me.” She turned back to the stairs. “Just leave me alone.”
* * *
Emma opened her eyes. Her cell phone vibrated on the nightstand again. She didn’t need to look to know who the call was from. Dillon had called at least seven times since she left the club at midnight, twice in the last ten minutes. He left half a dozen messages, none of which she’d listened to.
She didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to hear his excuses. She wanted to mend her heart and get on with her life, but he wouldn’t stop calling. The pain refused to leave her chest, leaving her unable to sleep.
Ignoring the call like all the others, she let her eyes close. Ten minutes later, she began to drift off again when knocking snapped her awake. The pounding sounded again and she glanced at the clock. Only one person would dare to come to her door at a quarter to four in the morning. The incessant pounding wouldn’t stop and she finally pried herself out of bed, padding out of her room and down the stairs. If he didn’t stop, he’d wake Annie.
When she opened the door, Dillon stood on her step. He leaned a shoulder against the frame, looking up when the door opened. His eyelids drooped, sorrow and regret adding a haunted shadow to the depths of his eyes. He looked like she felt—harrowed, miserable, and exhausted.
Her heart twisted at the sight of him, leaving Emma caught between how much she missed him and being so angry she couldn’t see straight. Caught between wanting to throw herself into his arms for the safety she used to find there, and slamming the door in his face.
That image of Leila pressing herself along his length chose that moment to insinuate itself into her mind, answering the quandary for her, and with a shake of her head, she simply shut the door and turned to head back upstairs to bed.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.” Dillon called through the door, his tone telling her he meant business. “I’ll stay out here all night if I have to.”
She paused midstep, halfway to the staircase. It was twenty degrees out there. “You’ll freeze to death.”
Never mind they risked waking Annie.
“That’s why I’m hoping you’ll have mercy on me and open the door.”
Emma didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to open the door, didn’t want to fight with him or fend off any sweet talk. If he tried, his eyes would melt her resolve and she’d end up back where she started—in love with a man who’d never love her.
“This is one of those times when I really need you to give me the benefit of the doubt.”
Her heart lurched at that, the beginnings of doubt swirling through her mind. Hadn’t she once promised him to try not to always think the worst of him? To give him the benefit of the doubt? God, was it possible she misinterpreted what she saw?
The image flashed again, of Leila pressing herself against him, their mouths connecting…
She marched to the door and yanked it open. “I’m not blind. I saw you kiss her.”
Dillon shook his head, a sad frown curving his mouth. “You saw
her
kiss
me
.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s splitting hairs, don’t you think?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m guessing that’s all you saw or we wouldn’t even be here.” He paused, one brow quirking up, his eyes daring her to deny it.
She couldn’t, and the thought occurred to her, again, she might have been wrong. Too much time lying in the dark tonight pondering her reaction made her realize she reacted out of jealousy. So intense she couldn’t be sure if she even saw things the way they were or the way the small, taunting voice in the back of her mind convinced her.
None of which she knew how to explain.
When she didn’t say anything, Dillon folded his arms across his chest. “Outside of what happened, what on earth would ever make you think I’d want her?”
“You loved her once, and she’s…” Emma looked down at her shapeless nightgown and shrugged. “I can’t compete with that.”
Saying it out loud, it felt stupid, childish almost.
Dillon’s hand cupped her chin. His thumb stroked her skin, running along the edge of her bottom lip. “You have a very warped view of yourself.”
Emma shook her head again. “No. I’m honest with myself. I know who I am…and I know what I’m not. I’m not that kind of beautiful.”
“I happen to think you’re the most beautiful woman in this town. You’re kind-hearted and compassionate, and you gave up your life to take care of someone else. First, your mother, then Janey, now Annie.” Dillon dropped his hand and tucked it into his pocket. “What I can’t figure out is…who takes care of you?”
She stiffened her spine. “I take care of myself.”
Dillon shook his head. “I believe that’s my job.”
A shiver ran the length of her spine. She opened her mouth to respond, but before the words left her tongue, Dillon pushed away from the doorway and shoved the door closed behind him.
He pulled a hand from his pocket and stroked her cheek. “What I felt for Leila isn’t even half what I feel for you. You’re like…coming home. When I talk, you listen, and lying in your arms at night is the safest place in the world. When I got those lab results…” He dropped his hand and diverted his gaze to the floor, giving a slow shake of his head. “I panicked. All I could think was…what if Annie’s not really mine? You’d have every right to take her and walk out of my life. I couldn’t bear the thought of a world without the two of you. Of never seeing either of you again. It scared the hell out of me.”
Her heart stuttered, and Emma looked up. “So you ran.”
Dillon smirked, an ironic self-loathing smile. “I ran.” He slid his hands on her hips, tugging her against him. “About two seconds after Leila kissed me, I sent her packing. I told her flat out I wasn’t interested and she didn’t like that. Had you kept watching, you would have seen the way she stormed off, because she sure made a show of it.”
He paused again and she knew he waited for her reaction, but she didn’t know quite what
to
say. “Why would she do that?”
He gave a miserable shake of his head. “She pulls crap like that all the time. She’s always been a spoiled brat and I think it pisses her off she can’t have what she wants. What she wants is my bank account. I have no feelings for her, and I haven’t for a long time.” A beat of silence passed. “I’m in love with
you
.”
She jerked her gaze to his, her mouth dropping open. Whatever she expected him to say it hadn’t been that. Was he toying with her? Looking at his eyes honesty stared back. Dillon bared his soul in his eyes, daring her to see the emotion, to deny its existence, but she couldn’t deny it. It shined like a beacon, there for her to see, and the emotion wrapped itself around her, warm, sweet, and enticing.