Three Hard Lessons (Blindfold Club 2)
Page 85
“No. I love you. Real, Payton.”
I stared into his eyes. They looked the same as they always did, whether he was telling the truth or not.
“Why should I believe that? You’ve been lying to me since I got here.”
“I didn’t lie. Yeah, I left something out that I should have told you–”
“Still a lie in my book.”
His hands had trapped my waist, and they tightened at this accusation. His jaw clenched. “Yeah? You want to talk about not saying things you should? I’m in love with you. You got any kind of response to that?”
I took in a sharp breath. No way were those words coming from me right now.
“Every time you don’t answer, it’s a fucking lie, and we both know it.”
“This is about you,” I struggled free from his hold, “and how you made a massive decision without telling me. Maybe I’ve decided to go home, and you don’t get a say in that. How does that feel? You like it?”
Whoa, no. He definitely didn’t. His gaze turned hard and dark.
“And how exactly are you planning on getting home?”
Holy shit.
chapter
TWENTY-SIX
I’d never considered he wouldn’t let me leave, which had been stupid on my part. He’d just said he’d do anything to keep me here. But still, I was shocked he’d resort to a level that low.
“You owe me a plane ticket.” My voice came out uneven. I started to panic, feeling pinned down. Captive.
“I do, but we’ve got to talk about this.”
“You had two months to talk.” And he hadn’t. Maybe he never would have. “Were you even going to tell me?”
He took a deep breath. “Yeah.”
Well, that was less than convincing. Once again I wrapped my hand around my suitcase handle. “I want my fucking ticket, now.”
“Payton, c’mon, I’m sorry. Can you stop with the suitcase?” He wrenched my hand off of it, and then wouldn’t release me. “You can’t just leave.”
“The hell I can’t.” I was breathing so hard, I started to get lightheaded. The hurt of it all was too great. I felt trapped, and his hand around mine made it worse. “Let go of me, go to your computer, and start looking at flight times.”
His shoulders rose and then fell, and the expression on his face turned unreadable. “No.” It came out normal, but I saw his Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed hard. Blue eyes examined my reaction, waiting anxiously for my response.
This was it. He’d pushed me before, but I couldn’t bend any further to him. This wasn’t bending, it was breaking. If I didn’t push back, I’d never be able to draw another line again. He knew I didn’t have the money or the credit limit on my credit cards to afford a ticket.
I yanked my hand free from his grasp and dug my phone out, doing the time change in my head. Christ, it was just after five in the morning there.
“What are you doing?” he asked, but I ignored him and dialed.
Logan answered on the third ring, sounding out of breath. He was a marathoner, so hopefully I’d caught him while he was on a training run. “Payton? What’s going on?”
“I need a really big favor,” I said, locking my gaze on Dominic. “I need you to sell my car.”
“What?” both men asked at the same time.
“Dominic won’t pay for me to come home.”