“At what point did you realize you’d made a mistake?”
He breathed in and out carefully, trying to rein in his temper. “The instant before you walked out the door. I knew I couldn’t live without you.”
“But you did. For two years before that trip to Mexico screwed up my life.” She sat up and reached for her coffee.
“We hooked up before you had a chance to grow up. I felt like I’d pulled you straight out of high school into a marriage-like situation and you hadn’t had the opportunity to get your bearings or really figure out what you wanted.”
“Always trying to make all the decisions for me, because I’m just a kid.”
“What the fuck? I tore my heart out giving you the opportunity to make all the decisions you wanted.”
“And who made the decision that I needed those opportunities?” Putting the coffee down, she dug into the bag for a burrito and dropped it into his lap, then grabbed one for herself.
“I’m not hungry.”
“I decided you are. Eat.”
Brian cursed under his breath.
“I knew what I wanted, Bri—you. I knew there wasn’t another man in the world for me. I didn’t want to check out the scenery or waste time that could be spent with you.”
“Then why did you leave?” Keeping one hand on the wheel, he used his teeth to rip the foil wrapping off the burrito.
“You know why.”
“And you knew what I did for a living when we started.”
“You lied to me when you joined the Marshals Service.”
“Bullshit.”
“You never said anything about volunteering for the Shadow Stalkers!” She tore a chunk out of the burrito with violent gusto.
“I was qualified.”
She chewed angrily, then washed down her food with a large swallow of coffee. “You were also qualified as a security expert.”
He put the burrito down. Starting his own firm had been a dream he’d shared with Jacob. After his best friend died, Brian felt as if the dream had died, too. He couldn’t imagine going forward with the endeavor without Jacob on board. “Things changed.”
“You didn’t. You’re an adrenaline junkie with a hero complex.”
“And a big dick,” he lashed out, stung. “Don’t forget that.”
Her gaze bore into him. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Your pussy doesn’t seem to mind.”
She flipped him off and resumed eating, canting her body toward the window.
He’d wanted to at least have a dialogue about his work with the Marshals Service Special Operations Group before she tossed out her ultimatum, but she’d said the discussion should have been held before he volunteered for SOG and she wasn’t staying with a guy who had a death wish.
“What about your painful truths, Layla? Your fear of abandonment kept you from trusting me. You were always laying out ultimatums, with the proof of whether or not I loved you hanging in the balance. You were always waiting for some excuse to say I wasn’t going to stick around after all.”
“And you gave it to me, didn’t you?”
“Look for something hard enough, you find it, whether it’s really there or not.”
Shrugging, she said, “People have baggage. When you love someone, you deal with it.”