I’d wanted him to feel as ashamed as I felt. But there was no victory here. Just another defeat.
“Educate me,” he said coldly. “Tell me why you’d take money from a stranger but not me.”
“Because I don’t have feelings for a stranger, you stupid, stubborn asshole!”
Great. Now both eyes were freezing with tears that this dumbass didn’t deserve. That was the worst part. I had stupid feelings for a stupid man who was too stupid to be anything but disgusted by his attraction to me.
Dominic looked stunned.
His grip loosened on me, and I took advantage by stomping my stiletto into his foot and wrenching free. I took off at a slightly faster prance.
Nothing said pathetic like a clothing-optional dancer running down a dark street after amateur night. My life had reached a new low.
I didn’t even hear him coming. The thunder of my heartbeat drowned out everything else as I tottered for my life. Away from the man who made me feel things when I had no business or time to feel anything.
Hands caught me, stopping me in my tracks, and then pushed me up against the brick of a building. A church. Oh, how appropriate. He pinned me there with his hips, crowding me. I was trapped between a building and my furious boss.
Jesus—sorry, church—cheese and crackers, the man was still hard. Maybe it was just his natural state. His pants were still wet from the orgasm I’d given him.
“If you think I’m going to let you wait for a bus or a train wearing nothing but a coat and a thong at this time of night, then you’re the stupid, stubborn asshole,” he growled.
I said nothing. Dom was vibrating with rage. And, for once, I felt like we were both on the same page.
“Why do you even care? I don’t get you. I don’t get this. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
He clamped a hand over my mouth. “I would love nothing more than to leave you alone. But I don’t know how. So this is what is going to happen. You’re going to get in my car, and I’m going to drive you home. And then we’re going to have a long talk.” Every word sounded like a threat.
My insolent eye-roll was apparently not the response he was looking for. He gave me a little shake and then undermined it by rubbing his hands up and down my arms. Once again, mixed messages from Prince Charming.
“Do you understand?” he asked with a frigid calm. “I’ll stand out here as long as it takes the come to freeze my balls to my dick if that’s what it takes.”
Heh. He had to be pretty uncomfortable running around with that in his pants.
I nodded slowly but let my watery, half-frozen eyes telegraph “I hate you” loud and clear.
He hauled me the block and a half to his car, a sinister-looking Range Rover, and shoved me into the passenger seat. I wondered if I was leaving a trail of body glitter behind me like I was a Questionable Life Choices Tinkerbell. When I shivered on the leather, he pinned me with a glare and stripped out of his coat. “Here,” he said, spreading it over me, tucking it in under my legs. “And if you even think about running again, I will make you regret it.”
Running was out of the question, so I waited while he rounded the vehicle and climbed behind the wheel.
“Am I fired? Or are you taking me somewhere to murder me?” I asked.
“I haven’t decided,” he said, stabbing the button for my seat warmer. The leather beneath me heated instantly, and I shifted the coats to protect my practically exposed hoo-ha.
Those were the only words spoken during the drive. Until I realized we weren’t heading toward New Jersey.
“Where are you taking me?”
The monosyllabic answer was delivered on a growl. “Home.”
35
Dominic
I was a dirtbag of the highest order. I’d basically abducted an employee with the intent of holding her prisoner until she finally told me what the hell was going on. But I was too full of righteous anger to care about the consequences.
Ally was glued to the passenger side window, as far away from me as possible. I snagged an open parking spot just down the block and shut off the engine. She swung away from the window and glared at me, her jaw set in a tight line.
The fact that she was pissed off at me pissed me off even more.
“Don’t give me that look.