“Call me Pax,” I say and bite my tongue. Crap. That’s what my friends call me. It’s too intimate, too friendly too—
“Pax,” he whispers, his deep voice caressing my name until I shiver.
Oh man, I really like the sound of my name coming from him. And Christ, stop it, Pax. Right now.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks, before I decide what to say. “Want to try again?”
Okay, this is it. Get it over with. Do your thing. Apologize and go your merry way.
“Hey, I wanted…” Wait a sec. What did he just say? “Try again what?”
He leans forward, his gray eyes meeting mine boldly. “Sex.”
I flinch, try to hide it. “No. God, no. That was...it was a mistake.”
He leans back in his chair and lifts his steaming mug to his lips. “Are you sure? We could take it slower this time.”
“What are you…?” I shake my head, confused. He wants to try again after that fiasco? Is he insane? “I wanted to apologize.”
He puts the mug down, clenches his jaw. “You don’t have to, Pax.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, see, such things happen in my line of work. If I failed to deliver what you wanted, then you were right to be upset.”
“That’s just it. You did all I asked of you. What happened wasn’t your fault.”
“Then why did you freak out?” He’s observing me with those gleaming eyes like he can see right into my soul.
“That’s not important.”
“Damn right i
t is. It’s the only thing that’s important. Pax…” His soft mouth tightens. “Why are we here today?”
“Told you. Wanted to say I’m sorry.” I lift my cup to my lips to stall for time.
“You said that already. Now what?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re paying for this. What do you want to do with me?”
Do with him. All sorts of naughty images rise to my mind—Riot bent over me, kissing me, fucking me, touching me—and they all come crashing down.
Because I’ll never be able to do that now. My idea didn’t work out. Being with Riot—or any man—won’t happen.
“I can’t,” I whisper, my eyes suddenly burning, and push my chair back. I grab my purse. “Sorry.”
“Can’t what? Pax!”
I’m on my feet and crossing the shop before I even know what I’m doing. I have to get out, have to end this conversation before I say something I regret, before I panic, and I’m vaguely aware of his voice still calling my name.
It doesn’t matter. It’s done. Now I can go on living my life like before, hiding in my shell and hanging out with Corey who’s too sweet to be real and discussing his dream boyfriends.
Hell, I tried. Not my fault my experiment went up in flames.
Chapter Four