Swallowing, I shut the door behind me. I can only imagine what my brother and my mother are thinking, but they aren’t my problem right now.
Masey is.
“Get the fuck away from me.”
Softly, I shake my head. “You’re mad. I understand.”
“No, you don’t. I’m mad at myself.” She tsks. “I should have known.”
“I’m not Thom.”
“So you know what he did?” she demands.
“Cheated? Yeah.”
“Did Harlow tell you that, too?”
“Does it matter?”
“Nope. But I’m not going to give you the chance to lie to me like he did.” Her laugh sounds mocking. “I should thank you. It was years before he slipped up enough for me to realize he was cheating. It only took you an hour after becoming my ‘boyfriend’”—she holds up air quotes—“for you to show me what you’re really like.”
“Masey—”
“What were you going to do, give her your ‘special’ tour of the couch while I filmed in your office?”
Ouch. “No. I had zero intention of seeing Caitlyn beyond our run-in in the parking lot. And zero interest.”
“Right…” She nods skeptically. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’ve never fucked her.”
“I’m not going to lie to you. I have. Ask me how long ago that was.”
“I don’t care.”
“Oh, I think you do.” I charge closer and grab her arms. “You care enough to start an argument about it.”
“I’m not arguing. I’m leaving. I’ll ask Noah to have Harlow come collect my stuff later.”
She tries to rush past me. I grab her and hold her firmly in place.
“Let’s get a couple of things straight first. If you want to leave after that, I can’t stop you.” I also won’t stop pursuing her, but since that will just start another argument, I keep that to myself.
“I don’t care.”
“That’s a lie. You care. I care. Neither of us would be having this conversation if we didn’t. So let’s try being honest. I’ll start. I haven’t seen Caitlyn in at least six months. She all but jumped on me when you walked up.”
“That’s a good one. Almost as good as Thom’s excuse for why he was spending time with Betsy. He’d hired her to teach him how to be better for me in bed, you see. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice—”
“I’m fucking not Thom!” I clasp her arms tighter and pull her closer. “She wanted to come over tonight, and I told her no. I told her never to come over again. I told her I would be with my girlfriend.”
“We’re not actually dating.” She tries to wrest free.
There’s no way I’m letting her go. “Let’s talk about that. You want to know something honest? Nia probably could have found somewhere else to park Amanda and Oliver. She has connections on the island. And if she couldn’t find a place, I guarantee Keeley would have found somewhere. She knows locals for days. But I volunteered your rental. Wanna know why? So you would stay with me, and I could be with you.”
“Pfft. You needed a babysitter.”
Damn, she’s tenacious when she’s pissed off.
Masey probably thinks I’m all chill, but she’s about to find out I can be fucking stubborn, too. “No, I wanted you. I wanted any excuse to keep you next to me, in bed with me, talking to me, maybe falling for me. Because I’m falling for you. And I wasn’t going to tell you that until I thought you were ready to hear it. I was going to ease you into it and show you how good life with Ranger and me could be. But because you saw a former fling make a move on me, you decided I’m like your asshole ex. It’s completely fucking unfair. If I’m good in bed, honey, it’s because I went through a long string of women like her who only wanted me for my cock. To them, I wasn’t good enough for anything else. Should I lump you in with them like you’re lumping me in with Thom?”
“No,” she whispers, and I can’t tell whether she feels shocked or chastened.
“Is the only thing you like about me the way I fuck you?”
Fresh tears fall down her face. “Of course not. That’s horrible.”
“Do you feel anything for me besides desire?”
She hesitates for a long moment. Her eyes water, and her face twists like she’s trying not to cry. “Yes. And I’m scared.”
I can barely hold in my sigh of relief as I pull her closer. I don’t care that I’m sweaty or that I’m getting her shirt damp. I don’t