dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, she headed downstairs. Too edgy to sit, she stood at the counter, eating a sandwich with ice cold milk to wash it down.
The laptop she’d brought with her stared back at her from the kitchen table, and she thought about plugging it in, but the effort of booting it up seemed more than she could handle. She could go through her mother’s room, but she needed a good night’s sleep to tackle that. At last, with nothing else to do and not feeling in the mood for television, she decided to sit out on the back patio for a while.
“I figured you’d be out here sooner or later.” Griff’s voice was like warm velvet in the darkness. As dark as it was, she hadn’t noticed the figure in the big lounge chair until she was almost next to it. “Sit down, Cassie. You can’t run away from me in your own house. We have things to talk about, and, by God, we’re going to do it now.”
Chapter Nine
Cassie’s throat tightened, and her stomach recoiled. Too many emotions battled inside her—anger, apprehension, desire, and the one she’d buried so deep she didn’t think it would ever surface again. Love. She couldn’t make words come out of her mouth. She turned to run back to the house, but he was out of the chair like lightening, gripping her arms with incredible force.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Griff said, his tone harsh, “Not this time. You’re going to sit in that chair and listen to me if I have to tie you down.”
He forced her onto the lounger he’d just vacated and sat down on the edge beside her. One arm stretched across her body, pinning her in place, with no wiggle room.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d let me get up this instant.” She put every bit of the cold fury she felt into those words. “And get away from my house.”
“Not until you hear what I have to say. You can scream if you want, but think of the explaining you’ll have to do when someone shows up to rescue you.”
He was so close≈ she could smell the mixed scents of soap and aftershave on his skin, clean and earthy and male. There was just enough light from the moon to give her a good view of his features. His face still had that wicked, sexy look, and his eyes, no longer hidden behind sunglasses, burned into her. But the laughter that always danced in them was gone. Instead, they looked like two dead pools of navy, reflecting no light at all. Still, his gaze could make hot-and-cold flashes chase themselves over her body.
Her heart squeezed at the painful thought of all they’d lost. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms.
“If I agree you can have your say, will you let go of me? And then will you go away?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “But you have to listen to everything.”
“I cannot imagine what you think I want to hear.”
She held herself rigid, trying not to touch any part of him. If she did, all the stored desire, the remembered passion, would come flooding back, and she’d be powerless to refuse him anything.
“I have plenty to say, whether you want to hear it or not. Are we clear on this?”
She nodded, but when she looked into his eyes, she was shocked by the incredible pain she saw.
“How can I make you understand it all,” he asked her, “when I still have trouble with it myself ?”
“What can there even be to understand?”
“God, I don’t even know where to begin here.” He looked away for a moment, his eyes distant. “If I tell you that no matter what you saw or heard, you were the one I wanted since high school, I know you won’t believe me. Why should you? But it’s the truth. That night on the porch, when I told you I was waiting for you? You thought it was a line, but that’s just what I was doing. Just as I’d done a lot of other nights. Waiting for you to walk by.”
“Bull,” she said. “Diane was always the one you wanted. Not me. I wasn’t loose enough for you and your friends.”
And Diane was the one he’d
The laptop she’d brought with her stared back at her from the kitchen table, and she thought about plugging it in, but the effort of booting it up seemed more than she could handle. She could go through her mother’s room, but she needed a good night’s sleep to tackle that. At last, with nothing else to do and not feeling in the mood for television, she decided to sit out on the back patio for a while.
“I figured you’d be out here sooner or later.” Griff’s voice was like warm velvet in the darkness. As dark as it was, she hadn’t noticed the figure in the big lounge chair until she was almost next to it. “Sit down, Cassie. You can’t run away from me in your own house. We have things to talk about, and, by God, we’re going to do it now.”
Chapter Nine
Cassie’s throat tightened, and her stomach recoiled. Too many emotions battled inside her—anger, apprehension, desire, and the one she’d buried so deep she didn’t think it would ever surface again. Love. She couldn’t make words come out of her mouth. She turned to run back to the house, but he was out of the chair like lightening, gripping her arms with incredible force.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Griff said, his tone harsh, “Not this time. You’re going to sit in that chair and listen to me if I have to tie you down.”
He forced her onto the lounger he’d just vacated and sat down on the edge beside her. One arm stretched across her body, pinning her in place, with no wiggle room.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d let me get up this instant.” She put every bit of the cold fury she felt into those words. “And get away from my house.”
“Not until you hear what I have to say. You can scream if you want, but think of the explaining you’ll have to do when someone shows up to rescue you.”
He was so close≈ she could smell the mixed scents of soap and aftershave on his skin, clean and earthy and male. There was just enough light from the moon to give her a good view of his features. His face still had that wicked, sexy look, and his eyes, no longer hidden behind sunglasses, burned into her. But the laughter that always danced in them was gone. Instead, they looked like two dead pools of navy, reflecting no light at all. Still, his gaze could make hot-and-cold flashes chase themselves over her body.
Her heart squeezed at the painful thought of all they’d lost. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms.
“If I agree you can have your say, will you let go of me? And then will you go away?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “But you have to listen to everything.”
“I cannot imagine what you think I want to hear.”
She held herself rigid, trying not to touch any part of him. If she did, all the stored desire, the remembered passion, would come flooding back, and she’d be powerless to refuse him anything.
“I have plenty to say, whether you want to hear it or not. Are we clear on this?”
She nodded, but when she looked into his eyes, she was shocked by the incredible pain she saw.
“How can I make you understand it all,” he asked her, “when I still have trouble with it myself ?”
“What can there even be to understand?”
“God, I don’t even know where to begin here.” He looked away for a moment, his eyes distant. “If I tell you that no matter what you saw or heard, you were the one I wanted since high school, I know you won’t believe me. Why should you? But it’s the truth. That night on the porch, when I told you I was waiting for you? You thought it was a line, but that’s just what I was doing. Just as I’d done a lot of other nights. Waiting for you to walk by.”
“Bull,” she said. “Diane was always the one you wanted. Not me. I wasn’t loose enough for you and your friends.”
And Diane was the one he’d
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