Making me believe that I shouldn’t be ashamed of my body? Talking about the accident? Or just the whole damn trip?’
Kent nodded, his jaw locked. ‘All of it.’ He should never have taken the assignment in the first place. He should have kept her at a distance.
His blunt admission rocked her back on her heels; she was surprised by how much it hurt. Okay, he was pissed at her. She got it. But did he really regret everything that had happened? Apart from this sticky end, which she would no doubt analyse ad nauseam in the coming months, she didn’t have a one. Kent had helped her think differently about herself—about her body and her art.
And for that she would be for ever grateful.
‘For the last time, I was not writing a story about you.’
Kent folded his arms across his chest. Okay, he believed her. But he doubted she was being honest with herself over her true reasons and that was cause for concern.
‘Well, who were you writing it for?’ he asked. ‘Because if it was just for you then I think you may be a little...fixated on me.’
The last thing he needed was Sadie Bliss making his life difficult after they parted ways with some obsessive girly crush.
The last thing he needed was Sadie Bliss full stop.
‘We had great sex, Sadie. But don’t delude yourself—there can be nothing else.’
Sadie was speechless for a moment at the sheer ego on the man. She wished she could tell him it wasn’t that good, but unfortunately she couldn’t.
She could however assure him he wasn’t the only man in the world. A girl had her pride.
‘I hate to be the one to break this to you but I’m pretty sure you do not own the only penis-of-amazing-powers in the world and I’m damn sure I can get on with my life without pining for it.’
Although she’d probably think about it a little more than was healthy.
‘Besides which,’ she added, ‘if you think all we had was sex, then maybe you’re a little deluded. You shared stuff with me I’m betting you’ve never told anyone else. I can get sex and, thanks to you, I’ll be sure to hold my future partners to a higher standard, but where are you going to find someone you can talk to, Kent? Because you really need to talk to someone.’
Kent glared at her, his face stony. He did not want to get into a conversation about his state of mind. That was especially none of her business. ‘This is not about me, Sadie.’
‘So you’re just going to have nightmares for the rest of your life?’ she demanded. ‘You’re going to hear poor Dwayne Johnson calling for his mother every time you shut your eyes?’
‘I’ll deal with my stuff,’ he snapped. ‘I just want to make sure you aren’t spinning castles in the air because of our physical...intimacy.’
Sadie snorted. Kent had opened up so much from the guy he’d been at the beginning of the trip, but right now he’d taken a huge slide backwards. He couldn’t even recognise they’d been more than just physically intimate. That there’d been emotional intimacy as well.
And he was running for the hills.
‘Why on earth would I want to be involved with a man who is so guarded, so...’ she floundered around looking for the most apt description that didn’t involve mentioning how far up his backside his head was jammed ‘...deep in his man cave, I feel like I need a miner’s lamp and pick whenever I talk to him? Relationships shouldn’t be that hard, Kent.’
He nodded, his lips terse. His work here was done.
‘Good,’ he said, brushing past her and heading for the door. ‘At least we agree on something.’
He was desperate to put as much distance as possible between him and her damn robe belt that was loosening and flashing glimpses of her cleavage. It made him want to throw her on the bed, which was not conducive to walking away.
To ending it.
Whatever it was.
Sadie turned and watched him limp away. ‘Where are you going?’ she asked.
He opened the door. ‘Out.’
And then there was just Sadie left looking at a closing door, her heart beating wildly. She sank onto the end of the bed, her brain trying to catch up. Twenty minutes ago she’d had a screaming orgasm in the shower. Now Kent was gone and there was a heavy feeling in her chest and a growing urge to cry.
She stood. She would not cry. She’d cried over her