Brogan (Carolina Reapers 9)

“Well, it wasn’t like you needed me, was it? Evie slipped right in with no problem.”

“You didn’t even quit!” I hissed. “You walked out on us!”

She drew back like the words had been a physical blow. “I…I called Evie to make sure you weren’t left in a lurch!”

“Evie is not you!” I laced my fingers behind my neck and paced slightly, taking in deep breaths to try and maintain some sense of control. Once I felt like I could talk without shouting, I stopped and faced her.

Anger and frustration were still there on her face, etched in the purse of her lips, the fire in her eyes, but there were also dark purple shadows under those blue orbs, which told me she’d been sleeping just about as well as I had, and there was something in the set of her shoulders—they drooped just a tiny bit. There was sadness in her, too.

“Fiona, everyone in my life only needs me for money.”

Her lips parted and her arms fell to her sides. “That’s not true.”

I laughed. “Yeah. It is. My aunt and uncle only call when they need me to bail them out. Silas needs me to bring fans to the ticket booth. Tiffany showed up for a million-dollar payout to sign away her rights to Skye—”

“She wanted money?” Fiona squawked.

“Well, she sure as hell didn’t want Skye.” I shook my head. “But you would have known that if you’d bothered to stick around that morning.”

Her jaw dropped. “You told reporters—”

“Yeah, I fucked up!” I winced at the way my voice rose. “I thought I was giving you the privacy and non-labeled relationship you wanted. I’ve already explained that. But you…” I shook my head. “You walked away when I needed you most. Why? Because of some shit I said to a reporter? A fucking misunderstanding? Or because you decided that was a good enough excuse enough to cut bait and run? Admit it, you had one foot out the door the second you found that ring.”

She inhaled harshly, and her gaze hit the floor.

“And yes, even you only needed me for money. I was your boss, remember? You needed to pay your student loan debt. So I paid it off for you, so that if you ever decided to walk back through my doors, we would both know it was because you wanted to and not because you needed to.”

“Brogan,” she whispered.

“And guess what, Fiona?” My hands fell to my sides. “Evie’s been watching Skye for a whole week now, and I’ve managed not to fall in love with her because she isn’t you! So there goes your convenience theory. That’s the thing you don’t seem to grasp! I don’t need you anymore—not to be Skye’s nanny.”

Fiona flinched.

“But I want you. I need you for me. For us.” Frustration welled within me, rising to a boiling point. Why couldn’t she understand that I loved her? That I was flawed, and imperfect, and would inevitably fuck something up, but I was hers?

It didn’t seem to matter what I wanted to say, it wouldn’t come out right. I had to find a way to make her—

A slow grin spread across my face. We’d always communicated better with our bodies.

“What?” she asked, tilting her chin and meeting my heated gaze with one of her own.

“You want me, too. You’re just too scared to admit it.” I stalked forward.

She held her ground. “I’m not scared of anything.”

“Yeah,” I argued slowly. “You are.” Two steps and I was all up in her space. “You’re scared to need me the way I need you. You’re scared to admit that if you let yourself stick around, that you’ll lose the ability to run, aren’t you?”

Her lower lip trembled.

“But you want me, Fiona.” I slowly lifted my hand, giving her time to run, to protest. She didn’t. I slid my fingers into the mass of dark, silky hair at the nape of her neck. “You want this.”

“Brogan,” she whispered, her hands rising to my chest. But they didn’t push me away.

“It’s easy, sweetheart. If you tell me to stop, I will.” I lowered my head and breathed in the sweet scent of her. God, I’d missed this scent. Missed how fucking warm and soft she was. My world was fucking arctic without her in it. “But something tells me you won’t.”

I kissed her neck and bit back my own moan. Need exploded within me, replacing the anger, the hurt—all of it.

She swayed on her feet and clutched my shirt with both fists.

“You won’t say no, because you want this. You want me.” I nipped her earlobe, then flicked my tongue over her skin.

“Oh, God.” Her head fell back.

I took the opening, setting my mouth to her throat, and skimming her waist, her hips, with my free hand. I fucking loved this woman, needed this woman like I needed air. But none of my feelings mattered if she couldn’t admit that she was as in this as I was.