Page 44 of It Must Be Love

"This is about Naya, isn't it?" Her mouth twisted into something cruel and unpleasant.

"What?"

"I see how you look at her. You think I don't know how you watch her just as much as she watches you?"

"You're nuts." Hayes was right…again.

She came up to me, and I rose. "She may have a crush on you, but you have one on her too. Isn't that right? Do you know why she wears pants all the time? Why she covers her body?"

"Ann, you don't want to do this."

"Because she has burn scars," she spoke over me. "Kara showed me pictures. If you think you can fuck her with the lights on the way you like it, think again."

Burn scars? No wonder she wore loose clothes. She must've gotten used to them when she was recovering. That made sense. Darren had mentioned a car accident at The Langham. Fuck! Naya had gotten hurt.

"Naya resigned, Ann," I told her. "She's not even going to be working at Midas. And you're wrong about how I feel about Naya."

"How do you feel?" she demanded.

"Mostly, I feel bad for her. I feel bad that Nolan is an asshole to her. I feel bad that I was a jerk to her at work. I feel bad that she is paying a mountain of debt for her father's medical bills with no help from said asshole brother."

"You feel so sorry for little Naya that you want to fuck her?" she asked in a childish sing-song voice, venom pouring out of her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You. You are what is wrong with me. I have invested years in getting you to a place where you'd propose. Years, Amias. Every time we broke up, I was the one who made sure we got back together again. Now is our time, and you're dumping me? A week before Christmas?"

"You're the one who gave me an ultimatum, Ann. I don't want to get engaged to you."

"Then let's wait. We don't have to break up," she pleaded.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Ann. I will never want to marry you."

"Why? Because I was mean to your little Naya?" she demanded viciously.

I took a step away from her. How had I ever imagined I loved this woman? She was so caught up in her own insecurities that she lashed out at others.

"You know, Amias, if you want to fuck Miss Disgusting, go right ahead and do it. When you're ready to come back, know that this time I'm going to make you crawl." The malice in her voice was a complete turn off; whatever guilt I was feeling for ending our relationship vanished.

"Yeah, so we're done." I walked to her front door. She followed me and grabbed my arm.

"Don't do this. You will regret it."

I removed her hand gently. "Ann, I know I'll regret it if we stay together. I don't love you, not the way I want to love the woman I marry. We had fun, but marriage? No way."

"You were having fun with me?"

"Yes, Ann, we were both having a good time being in a relationship. That's what dating is about."

"I wasn't dating you, Amias." She slapped me hard. I didn't even flinch. "I was marrying you."

"You don't want to do that again," I told her.

She threw herself at me. "I'm so sorry, Amias. I am. It's just that I can't live without you. I love you so much."

I put my hands on her arms and set her aside as gently and firmly as I could. "Ann, you don't love me. You don't even know what that means. You're more excited about becoming Mrs. Westbrook than you are about becoming my wife."

"How can you say that?"