“Were you really going to let me go home?” she asked.
“You
“You were a bastard on purpose. I suppose I should thank you.”
He would like it better if she were yelling or throwing things. Anger had power behind it. This acceptance would kill her…or at least keep her from getting well.
“Don’t thank me,” he said, frustrated. “Get pissed off. Yell at me. Hate me.”
“Why? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Sure I have.” He was a guy-there had to be something he’d done. “I think you’re an idiot for wasting the opportunities you’ve been given.”
“Like I’m buying that.” She pulled free and turned to leave.
“You’ve wasted your life. You’re a Titan. You could have done something with all that money, but you haven’t. You’re useless. Being blind just makes it obvious to everyone else. Because you’ve always known the truth.”
She turned back to him, her expression more annoyed than angry, but at least it was better than defeat.
“You have some serious psychological problems,” she told him. “I don’t think your geography has anything to do with why you’re not in a relationship. I think it’s you.”
“What’s your excuse for being alone? Since when are relationships too much trouble for a woman? It’s what you all live for.”
“You are seriously grasping here.”
“Whatever works.”
“What’s your end game?” she asked.
“For you not to give up.”
“And then what? Do I get a cookie?”
“You get your life back, Izzy. That has to be worth something.”
“According to you, it isn’t. I’m useless.”
“So be mad at me. Have something to prove.”
“You know, you need a strategy,” she told him. “Right now you’re just bouncing around from point to point. There’s no cohesive argument here.”
“I’m thinking on my feet.”
She smiled. “Not your greatest strength, huh?”
He relaxed a little. “I do okay.”
“The people who say that are your employees, aren’t they? You have to pay them a lot of money to get them on your side.”
“You’re saying I don’t inspire loyalty?”
“I’m saying you have issues.”
“So do you.”
“One or two.”
“Like not having the surgery.”
She poked him in the chest. “We are so not having that conversation.”
The fire was back. Good. As long as she stayed strong, she would make it.
“We have to have it sometime.”
“Not today.”
She looked at him. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she could see everything. Her eyes were so damn beautiful…just like the rest of her. Without thinking, he reached toward her and cupped the side of her face. Her skin was smooth and soft.
“You can’t hide from me forever,” Aaron said as he walked into the kitchen. “You can run but you can’t hide. I’ve always loved that saying. I have proposals that need your approval and a lot of other details you keep avoiding.”
Nick dropped his hand and Izzy took a step back. Aaron rounded the corner, then came to a stop.
“Oh, my,” he said, glancing between them. “You could cut the tension in this room with a knife. What have you two been up to? It’s bad. I can tell. I’m just going to back out and we can pretend I was never here.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Nick said. “I’m leaving.”
“But you’re the one I have to talk to.”
Izzy heard footsteps retreating. Based on the sound and cadence, she knew Nick was the one who had left.
“What did I miss?” Aaron asked, sounding intrigued. “You both looked guilty. There’s something going on between you two.”
“Not that much,” she said, thinking that last night had been about comfort. He’d kept her sane through a rocky couple of hours. But what had today been about?
“Honey, I know sexual tension when I see it and it was filling this room. Come have a seat and tell Uncle Aaron everything. Start at the beginning and talk slow. My love life sucks so I’ll have to live vicariously through yours.”
He took her hand and led her to the sofa. When they were seated, the cushion moved as if he were getting more comfortable or angling toward her.
“Tell me everything.”
“There’s nothing to tell. We were arguing.” Sort of. “Nick wants to make sure I don’t give up. Sometimes he’s a jerk about it.”
Aaron sighed. “Don’t you love it when he gets all manly. I know it makes
She laughed. “I find him annoying.”
“I don’t think so. The way he was looking at you.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. Like he hasn’t eaten in three days and you’re the buffet.”
Something deep inside her belly quivered to life. “Nick is nice,” she said cautiously, aware she was at a serious disadvantage. She couldn’t tell what Nick was thinking by looking at him.
“Nice? He’s a lot more than that. Have you seen those muscles. Oh. Right. Probably not. Well, they’re there and they’re fabulous.”
She’d felt them when he’d dragged her out of Lexi’s house and again last night. He’d been strong and safe and, well, kind. Not exactly a word she would have expected to use where he was concerned.
“You’re not seeing anyone, are you?” Aaron asked. “I don’t want Nick hurt.”
“What? You should be worried about me. I can’t wear makeup or fuss with my hair. I have to shave my legs by feel, which is probably not pretty.”
“You’re beautiful and sexy and something tells me you’ve been fighting off the boys since you were thirteen. It’s not about makeup, Izzy, it’s about you. Nick is drool-worthy. Believe me, I know. But he keeps to himself. No one gets in, because he makes sure they don’t.”
The compliments made her feel good, but she was more interested in what Aaron
“Why doesn’t he get involved?”
Aaron was silent.
She sighed. “If you’re making a face, I can’t see it.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. He has a past. Most of it, I don’t know either. Some I’ve figured out. Some he’s told me. He was raised in foster care. I don’t know what happened to his parents. He’s smart. Scary smart. Went to college on a full scholarship when he was fifteen or sixteen. It’s never good to be the smartest kid in the room. Then he grew up and…” Aaron paused. “The next few years aren’t clear to me. Anyway, he ended up here with this ranch and his business.”
Talk about a lot of gaps, she thought, wondering how many were because Aaron really didn’t know and how many were because he didn’t want to tell her.
“Did he buy the ranch or was it in his family?” she asked.
“He bought it and fixed it up.”
“Specially for the corporate retreats?”
