“Obviously,” he sneered. “But Sharon doesn’t share that sentiment as she chose to marry Steve. Keep yourself and your jaded views away from my family.”
Did he have any idea that she wanted to pound her fists against his chest? Did he have any idea she’d cried over the loss of his friendship? Of all the precious moments they’d spent together? Of course not. Because if she wasn’t willing to have sex with him, he obviously didn’t want anything more to do with her.
“No, you, you man!” She wasn’t sure if she was denying his request to stay away from his family or if she spat the word out in protest of him not caring at how they’d ruined their relationship, a relationship she’d treasured.
“This isn’t up for debate.” Angry sparks flew from his eyes and she was glad.
Anger meant
she was eliciting some type of emotion from him. She wanted emotion, wanted a reaction from him. For weeks she’d been getting nothing but him ignoring her.
“You’re right. It’s not. You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do,” she insisted, earning herself a gritted-teeth growl from a man known for his cool composure.
Good. At this point she wanted a knock-down, drag-out fight. Arguing with him felt so much better than walking around on the eggshells she’d been treading since the morning after they’d come back from Cape May.
“Sure I do,” he said arrogantly. “You work for me.”
“Just because I work for you, it does not give you the right to say who I can and can’t be friends with.” Her chin rose another few notches.
“Then you’ll be doing it elsewhere because as long as you work for me, you’ll do what I say. Got it?”
Faith’s stomach knotted, what was left of her heart shattered into dust, and pain like she’d never felt erupted deep within her, battling with her anger for pole position.
“Fine,” she spat at him, clinging to her anger in the hope of abating her pain. “Consider this my official resignation. I quit. Effective immediately.”
CHAPTER TEN
AT FAITH’S threat, Vale’s blood instantaneously froze to hard chunks of ice. Coldness seeped into his extremities, leaving him numb and spent.
“You can’t quit,” he told her, wanting to take her into his arms and shake her, but he didn’t need to. Her entire body was already shaking, whether from anger or frustration or what he didn’t know.
She crossed her arms over her chest, jutted her chin up at him, and gave him the most seething look he’d ever seen cross her face. “I just did.”
“We have a contract,” he reminded her, battling the frost claiming his insides, not liking the panic in his chest, knowing he couldn’t let her quit. “One that says you work for me.”
“Fine, take me to court,” she said flippantly, not backing down from her position. “I’m sure any judge will release me under the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that. You know exactly what circumstances I’m referring to.”
“Our sleeping together?”
She smiled, as pretty as you please. “What else?”
“You’re being ridiculous, Faith. You can’t quit because we slept together.”
“No, you’re the one who’s ridiculous, Vale.” His name came out a sarcastic slur. “Sleeping with you has apparently destroyed my career. Was I that bad in the sack?”
That bad? Shouldn’t he be the one asking that question? He’d wanted to continue sleeping with her. She’d been the one to say no. “That’s enough, Faith.”
“No, it’s not enough. Do you want to know what’s enough? Me putting up with you ignoring me after what we shared. Me crying night after night, trying to figure out what I did wrong that weekend when the truth is I didn’t do anything wrong. You did, you pompous jerk!”
He winced. He’d known she was hurting, that he’d hurt her by backing away from their friendship, but when he wanted her so badly, how could he spend time with her and not end up seducing her? She needed to realize that they were worth pursuing and not because he’d charmed his way between her delectable thighs.
His pride had come into play as well. He’d wanted her to admit she’d been wrong to push him away, that he’d been right to say he wanted to continue beyond their weekend together. Had he pushed her away for ever instead?
“I’m sorry if I hurt you.”