Boston doesn’t reply to her, but rather he glances at me and says, “Don’t get too comfortable, Scott. Lorelei might be yours for now, but she was mine for three years. We’ve only been apart for five months. That’s not long enough for her to have fallen out of love with me.”
I’m about to tell him exactly what I think of that when Lorelei pushes out of my arms and mutters, “Oh, for God’s sake, you two can have this pissing contest without me.” With that, she stalks inside her apartment, slamming the door after her.
After the door slams closed, I glare at him. “You don’t think five months is enough time for a woman to figure out who she wants in her life? Tell me, have you heard from Lorelei since you left?”
His jaw clenches again, but he doesn’t answer my question.
“I thought so.” I move towards the door and turn the handle to enter Lorelei’s apartment. Looking back at him, I say, “Don’t come back here, Haynes.”
A moment later I’m inside her apartment and he’s out of my sight. In a perfect world I’d never see him again, but I know he’ll be back. Lorelei Winters isn’t the kind of woman a man gives up on easily.
“Lorelei,” I call out as I walk down the hallway in search of her.
She runs into me when she exits her bedroom in a rush. Eyes wild, she places both hands on my chest to steady herself and says, “Just so we’re clear, I’m not anyone’s property, Ashton.”
My arms circle her as I back her up against the wall. “I never said you were.” I ignore the way she pushes against me in an attempt to separate us. There’s no way in hell I’ll allow that. Right now, the only thing on my mind is making sure she knows I’m not going anywhere.
“You may not have used those words, but you did everything except throw me down on the floor and show Boston that I’m yours.”
“I don’t need to throw you down to prove to him that you’re mine. The man’s not blind, Lorelei. Everything about the way you are with me shows him that.”
“Well, you don’t need to rub it in his face.”
“He needs to know where you stand, and that is beside me.”
She presses hard against my chest, still trying to move out of my hold. “Yes, but I can only imagine what you said to him after I left, and I bet it was something to do with reminding him that I didn’t choose to marry him. I don’t want you to do that. I’ve already hurt him enough.”
Marry him.
That information was not in Jessica’s notes about Boston Haynes. It’s the kind of knowledge I would have preferred to have because it slants this situation in a new light.
Her ex will need to think again if he’s planning on convincing Lorelei to agree to marriage this time. She might not be my property, but she is most definitely mine. And I always keep what’s mine.
31
Lorelei
I drop my keys on the kitchen counter and turn to face Ashton. We’ve
just arrived back at my apartment after he took me to dinner at one of my favourite restaurants. Looping my hands around his neck, I say, “Thank you for dinner.”
He watches me in the way he does when he wants to discuss something important. His eyes hold that glint that tells me whatever it is, he won’t let it go until he’s gotten what he wants from me. “Why didn’t you marry Boston Haynes?” he asks as his hands slide around my waist and settle on my ass.
He surprised me when he didn’t bring the subject up over dinner, but I’m not surprised he’s doing it now. The possessiveness he exhibited earlier when Boston arrived at my front door seemed extreme, so I’ve been waiting for him to broach the subject again.
“It’s a long story. One we don’t have time for because I’m about to get naked.” I may have been waiting for him to ask me about Boston, but it’s the last thing I want to get into with him now.
“Lorelei,” he says, his tone issuing a warning. “I don’t care how long the story is. I want to hear it.”
I sigh. “No, you don’t. You just want to know whether Boston is a threat, and I can tell you he’s not.”
His eyes flash with determination. “I’m aware he’s not a threat, but until you start talking, neither of us are getting naked.”
I inhale a deep breath and stall for one last moment, needing it to gather my thoughts. This conversation needs to be approached with care. Exhaling, I say, “Fine, but just remember it was you who asked for this.” I attempt to move out of his hold, but he refuses to let me go. Raising my brows, I pull a face to signal my irritation, but still he doesn’t budge. I’m not sure why I’m being so weird about this, except for my concern that if even I can’t fully explain my decision not to marry Boston, how can I expect him to understand? And how then can I convince him that I don’t want Boston in my life anymore?
A look of frustration crosses his face before he bends to my ear and says, “I have half a mind to take you over my knee.”
The last time he mentioned this kind of thing, I was turned on. This time, I’m annoyed. It’s one thing to spank dirty thoughts out of me; it’s another to use it to get this kind of information. My eyes widen as his gaze meets mine again. “You wouldn’t.”