"But I wanted to see Prenup."
"You could have seen it later; it'll be on television in a few months."
"The same goes for End of the Road. You didn't have to sit in there if you didn't want to; you could have watched the other one with me."
"And been bored out of my mind by a chick flick?"
His attitude was getting to me. I crossed my arms and glared at him. "If you won't watch a chick flick with me, give me one good reason why I should watch a dick flick with you. Unless I want to see it, too, that is."
"And everything has to be your way, huh?"
"Now wait just a damn minute. I was perfectly happy watching the movie on my own; I didn't insist you go with me. If anyone is insisting on things being her way, it's you. 'His way,' I mean."
He ground his teeth together. "I knew it would be like this. I knew it. You're so damned high maintenance-"
"I am not!" I was abruptly so furious with him I could have smacked him, except I'm a nonviolent person. Most of the time.
"Honey, if you look up 'high maintenance' in the dictionary, your picture is there. You want to know why I walked away two years ago? Because I knew it would be like this, and I figured I could save myself a lot of trouble by getting out early."
He was so angry he was practically spitting out the words. My mouth fell open. "You threw us away because I'm high maintenance?" I shrieked the words. I'd thought his reason would be something deep, something important, like maybe he'd been going on an undercover job and he'd made a clean break with me in case he got killed, or something. But he'd dumped me because he thought I was high maintenance?
I grabbed the shoulder strap of my seat belt and twisted it as hard as I could, to keep myself from doing the same thing to his neck, or trying to. Since he outweighed me by about eighty pounds, I didn't know how that would turn out. Well, I did know, and that's why I strangled my seat belt instead of him.
"If I am high maintenance, you don't have to worry about it!" I shouted at him. "Because I don't depend on anyone; I take care of myself and do my own maintenance! I'll get out of your hair and you can go back to your nice peaceful life-"
"Fuck that," he said savagely, and kissed me. I was so angry I tried to bite him. He jerked back, laughed, and kissed me again. He threaded his fingers through my hair and tugged my head back, exposing my neck.
"Don't you dare!" I tried to wriggle away from him, releasing my grip on the seat belt to push against his shoulders.
He dared, of course.
"I don't want a nice peaceful life," he said against my throat a few minutes later. "You're a lot of trouble, but I love you and that's that."
Then he settled me back in my seat, started the car, and drove out of the parking lot before we drew someone's attention and the cops were called to us. I was still pouting and near tears, and I don't know how far he drove before he pulled off the road and parked the car behind some big trees where it couldn't be seen from the road.
Oh, a Taurus has very nice suspension.
Chapter Twenty-six
You'd think that because he said he loved me I'd be happy as a lark, but he'd made it sound as if I were a dose of nasty-tasting medicine that he had to take or die. Never mind that he'd made love to me in the backseat of the car as if he couldn't get enough of me; my feelings were hurt. Not only that, after I had a chance to think about it, I was very uneasy about the state of that backseat. I mean, the car's a rental; there was no telling what had been back there, and now my bare butt had been added to the list.
I didn't speak to him all the way home, and as soon as we were inside, I raced up the stairs to take a shower, just in case I'd picked up some rental-car cooties. Well, I hurried up the stairs; I still wasn't in racing shape. I also locked the bathroom door so he couldn't join me in the shower, because I knew how that would end and I hate being a pushover.
I should have planned ahead and taken some clean clothes into the bathroom with me, but I didn't, so I had to put on what I had just taken off. No way was I walking out with only a towel wrapped around me. I knew Wyatt Bloodsworth, and his motto was: Take Advantage.
He was waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom, of course, leaning against the wall as patiently as if he didn't have anything else in the world to do. He didn't shy from an argument; I'd noticed that about him.
"This isn't going to work," I said, forestalling him. "We can't even go to the movies without getting in a major argument, which you then try to solve with sex."
His brows lifted. "There's a better way?"
"That's just like a man. Women don't like to have sex when they're angry."
The brows went even higher. "You could have fooled me," he drawled, which wasn't the smartest thing he could have said.
My lower lip quivered. "You shouldn't throw that up to me. It isn't my fault you have my number, but when you know I can't resist you, it's really snotty of you to take advantage the way you do."
A slow smile curved his lips and he straightened from the wall. "Do you have any idea what a major turn-on it is when you admit you can't resist me?" Quick as a snake he coiled one arm around my waist and locked me to him. "Do you know what I think about during the day?"
"Sex," I said, staring straight ahead at his chest.
"Well, yeah. Some of the time. A lot of the time. But also how you make me laugh, and how good it is to wake up beside you in the morning and come home to you at night. I love you, and swapping you for the most even-tempered, uncomplicated, low-maintenance woman in the world wouldn't make me happy because the spark wouldn't be there."