“Stop doing it,” she demanded.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” she asked in a voice edged with hysteria.
“Because now I know,” he answered.
Her body stiffened to the consistency of marble but her mouth still was able to form the words. “You know what?”
“I know why you’re avoiding me,” he replied.
“I’m not avoiding you,” she semi-lied.
She kind of was.
Heck, who was she kidding? She definitely was and had been doing it for three weeks.
“You’re avoiding me, Belle. And you’re doing it because you want what we started in the stables, what we started in that bed, what we had four months ago. You want it just as badly as you’re terrified of it.”
“It’s hormones,” she semi-lied again. It could be hormones, what did she know? She was no pregnancy expert (although she was learning).
“It wasn’t hormones four months ago.”
He had her there.
“I have another rule,” she began, jerking her face from his hands and taking another step back, running into Baron and then stopping and lifting her chin to Jack. “No talking about four months ago.”
“Yesterday, I would have agreed to that.” He took another step toward her, negating the distance she’d gained, and leaned in. “Today. No f**king way.”
“Why?” she fairly shouted.
“Because now I want to know, when we both know how good it was then, how good it can be again, why you’re so damned scared of it. So scared of it, you’d latch onto any excuse you could find and walk away from it, and me, without looking back.”
She lifted her chin further and lied, yet again (she was seriously going to hell), “I’m not scared of it.”
“You bloody well are. You’re scared out of your skin.”
“Am not,” she snapped.
“Oh yes you are.”
“No… I… am… not!” she shouted.
He got even closer, his hands coming to her h*ps and dared, “Then kiss me.”
Her body did a little jerk and she stammered, “Wh… what?”
“If you’re so in control then kiss me. Prove to me you can take it or leave it.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to kiss you.”
“Scared?” he taunted.
“No!” she snapped.
She saw his eyes smile even though his mouth did not. She remembered the first time she’d seen him do that and just how beautiful she thought it was then.
It was no less beautiful now.