Page 80 of Tough Love
I get the hint of a smile in response before his face grows stern once more. “Come through.”
Guess it’s all work and no play then.
I follow his broad form through the security door, and down a corridor to a plain room furnished with no more than a round table and three chairs. Wonder if he’s the good cop, or the bad one?
“Sit.”
I drop on command.
“So.” The papers hit the table, yet he stands behind his chair with his arms folded. “What are we going to do about this?”
“That’s kind of why I’m here,” I deadpan. “You’re the cop. You tell me.”
He frowns, chewing on his bottom lip. “I wasn’t talking about anything legal, babe.”
“Don’t call me that.” I drop my chin, focusing on my chipped nail polish rather than my heartache. “It’s not fair.”
His chair scrapes on the linoleum, yet I refuse to look up. “There’s a bit of a wedge between us, huh?”
“Yeah. Sort of happens when you refuse to return someone’s calls and messages.”
His foot bumps my leg under the table. “Look at me.”
“No.”
“Look at me, Amelia.”
I answer him with silence. Petulant child-having-a-tantrum style silence, complete with the pouting bottom lip and all.
His heavy breathing dominates the otherwise quiet room, slow, measured, and strangely terrifying.
“Look. At. Me.”
“Why?”
“Because the only way I can show you what I’d rather be doing with my hands and lips right now, is with my eyes.”
Thispiques my interest. “Huh?” I frown at him.
“There’s cameras in these rooms, but no sound. I can’t act unprofessionally, but I can sure tell you instead.”
“I’m here because I need help, not because I wanted to see you.”Lie.It’s really both.
“Regardless.” He hardens his gaze, and I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “You’re here, I’m here, and being around you, smelling that scent you wear … fuck, Amelia. It’s driving me nuts.”
“Youwalked away and ignoredme,remember? So don’t act like this is my doing.”
“I did thatforyou,” he stresses.
“Are you sure about that?” I frown and cock my head to one side.
Fuck him. Being this close to him is driving me crazy, too. But at least I have self-control when it comes to how many people I fuck around with. It was him, just him. Pity he can’t say the same about me.
He stares me down, his jaw flexing as his hard eyes cause me to look away. “We’ll file the report of the vandalism, and if you sight the man in question or have any concerns for the welfare of you or your child, please be in touch.”
“Oh, no.” I chuckle bitterly. “No, you don’t.”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” he says scathingly, leaning back in his chair.