And he leaned closer to speak into her ear. “Go ahead. Get pissed off at me. I deserve it. Hell, I understand what you’re feeling. The betrayal. It burns like hell. But I’m not going to burn you. Never, Annabelle. I would rather cut off my right arm than see you hurt again. I know this is my fault. Just give me the opportunity to fix it.”
He couldn’t. She could think of nothing he could do to erase the betrayal she felt over his investigation. Not unless he took that final step and told her he loved her.
He didn’t.
She forced herself to look him in the eyes. “I want you to leave, Jared. I don’t think we should see each other again. If I find out my personal information has been revealed, I’ll call my law—”
He covered her mouth with his and kissed her. Hard.
She tasted his regret. And the heat of his passion.
She wanted to respond. But she felt only cold.
She pushed at his chest until he released her, withdrew her arm from his hand, and forced herself to walk, not run, to the door. Opening it, she turned to stare back at him.
For a second, she thought he wouldn’t go, that he’d force her to break that icy shell surrounding her and scream at him to leave.
His stony expression made the beautiful lines of his face stand out in stark relief. Such a beautiful face. But she saw no love.
Only determination to keep her by his side.
And she wanted more.
“This isn’t finished, Belle. This breach in your security needs to be taken care of. Let me have Dane fix it.”
“I think Dane’s fixed enough, thank you. And so have you.”
“You’re not safe.”
She wanted to laugh in his face. “I know that. Now.”
A tiny muscle in his jaw began to tic. “Belle—”
“You need to leave. Just go, Jared. I can’t—You have to go.”
He paused again but he must have seen something in her eyes that convinced him to give up the fight.
“I’ll go. For now. I’ll check back in a few days.”
She didn’t tell him not to bother. She didn’t know what to think, how to feel. Everything was such a mess right.
“Don’t hide, Belle. You’ll solve nothing by hiding.”
Her fingers itched to reach for him but she couldn’t seem to get beyond the fact that he’d had her investigated behind her back. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. “I’m not hiding. I just need you to go.”
He didn’t move and the tension in her body drew her muscles into tight, painful bunches.
His hand lifted from his side and she flinched away from him. She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t know what she’d do if he touched her.
Probably break apart. And she’d done that once in her life. She didn’t know if she could live through another.
He must have seen something in her eyes because he didn’t touch her.
“Make sure the security system’s set at night, Belle.”
Her heart twisted at the concern in his voice but she didn’t have anything to say.
When he finally shook his head and stalked out the door, she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her weight. Flipping the open sign to closed, she forced herself up the stairs to her bedroom, closed the door, and let herself fall apart.
“I’m not giving her up.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s your choice, Jed. You screwed this one up good.”
Jared considered flipping his brother the finger but knew it was an exercise in futility. And he didn’t know if he’d get the right finger anyway.
His companion of the last several hours, Jack Daniels, had finally called it quits.
The empty bottle lay on its side, like a fallen soldier, on the floor of the Salon. Jared slumped on a chaise, figuring he’d be joining the bottle soon enough. The chaise seemed to have developed a definite angle that threatened to land him on the floor.
Of course, that could just be the Jack. Everything was off kilter. Or maybe that was just him.
Tyler sat at the piano, playing something slow and quiet that didn’t grate on Jared’s nerves. Tyler had found him holed up here about an hour ago. He’d poured himself a drink and hadn’t said more than a few words.
“She won’t let me take care of this for her. Why won’t she let me take care of her?”
“Maybe because you went behind her back and had Dane investigate her?”
Jared grimaced. Yeah, maybe that had been a bad idea. But…“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Tyler sighed. “For the fifth time, my answer to that is, ‘Why should she?’”
Because she’s mine.
Tyler’s fingers came down hard on the keys, sending a bolt of pain through Jared’s head at the discordant sound. “She’s not one of your paintings, Jed. You don’t own her.”
Shit, had he said that out loud?
“I don’t want to own her. I want her to…”
“Want her to what?”
To love me.
He wanted her to love him. He wanted her to be his.
“Shit, Tyler. I love her.”
His brother snorted. “Ya think? Christ, I could’ve told you that two weeks ago.”
His heart contracted in his chest, and he could barely breathe. “And she hates me. What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?”
With a sigh, Tyler closed the lid on the piano keys. “Well, first, you sleep off the Jack. Tomorrow, you fix it. You’ll grovel, you’ll beg, you’ll throw yourself at her feet and tell her what an ass you’ve been and that you will do anything to make it up to her.”
He’d groveled before. At least, he’d tried to. Maybe he wouldn’t have to this time.
Maybe he’d just show her he could take care of her. He’d fix her information leak. He was good at fixing things.
And he never lost. When he wanted something, he got it.
He wanted Annabelle.
He’d do whatever it took to get her back.
“Men are so totally not worth the aggravation,” Kate declared as they made the rounds of the dealer tables at Renninger’s Market way too early Sunday morning.
Annabelle ran her fingers over a rare piece of blue willow china and then spotted a box of costume jewelry on the jumbled table.
“Men are dogs,” she agreed as she picked through the collection of ’50s and ’60s paste.
Jewelry had never been her area of expertise but she’d promised Beatrice she’d search for the missing pieces of her collection.
Just because Beatrice’s grandson was an overbearing, no-good playboy didn’t mean she would renege on a promise.
She’d shed enough tears over the guy for the past four nights. Cheap wine, sugar, and hot fictional guys. Perfectly…mindless.
Sighing, she moved on to the next table.
She hoped she found the damn ring soon. She wanted to put all of the Goldens behind her and out of her mind.
Especially one blue-eyed, blond, backstabbing—
“They’re worse than dogs,” Kate added as she paused to pick up a battered china doll from the table in front of her. “But…I still can’t believe Jared left without a fight.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes as she sifted through the jewelry, careful not to prick her finger on an unclasped pin back. “Oh, please, Kate, let’s not go there. Obviously, the man was only interested in what he could get out of our relationship. When he realized he’d been caught and screwed his chance to get his hands on my paintings, he split.”
Kate cocked one eyebrow at her. “And you’re sure he only wanted the paintings?”
No but… “Positive.”
“Did you even give him the chance to apologize?”