How could he have found me? What did he want from me?
Wasn’t it enough that he had already been haunting me?
He saw the look of utter shock and disbelief on my face and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
He stood there looking tall and handsome…almost menacing. While once again, I was dumbstruck by him and couldn’t find my words.
“Your manager at the bar... he gave me this address. It didn’t take much convincing on my part. He seemed happy to part with your details.”
Rocky. He truly was a pain in my ass.
I forced myself to do something to demonstrate control. So I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What are you doing here? Why did you go to my place of work and harass my manager?” I tried to keep my voice clipped and detached.
He wouldn’t have forced his way into my apartment. I was sure of that. From the little that I knew of Brendan Doherty, I knew I didn’t have to be afraid of him. Or maybe I was wrong.
Apparently, I had been wrong about him on all counts already.
“I need to know why you’re acting like this,” he growled.
“Acting like what?”
“Like you fuckin’ hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. I don’t know you,” I snapped.
That much was true. Even though I had once thought it was love at first sight, he was still a stranger to me.
“Then why do you keep running away from me? Why do I need to keep chasing you down?”
My nostrils flared while I shoved down all my emotions.
It still hurt that he didn’t recognize me. He had no idea what he had done to me. How that night had changed me forever. Ever since he deserted me at that party—naked and waiting upstairs in one of Mia’s rooms—I hadn’t been able to trust any other guy. I didn’t trust him either.
I was afraid I would spend the rest of my life mistrusting every man I met. And it was all his fault.
“I’m not running away from you. I just don’t want to be with you. Is that really so hard for you to believe? Are you really that big-headed that you can’t handle rejection?” I spoke with bitterness in my voice.
Brendan glared at me like my words were poison and they stung his skin. Then he took one threatening step towards me, wedging himself between the door and frame.
“Stop lying to yourself,” he snarled through clenched teeth.
I whipped away from him, walking back inside.
For some reason, before I had a chance to change my mind about it—I decided to leave the door open. It was an open invitation for Brendan to walk in. Which he did.
He shut the door behind him.
“There’s something you’re not telling me and I need to know what it is.” His voice was deep and threatening.
I had my back turned to him, teetering on the edge of confessing everything.
I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to tell him exactly who I was and what he had done to me. How he had managed to leave a mark in my life through approximately two hours of interaction between us.
I still couldn’t believe it was him. This almost felt like punishment. And then last night…his hands were all over me. He made me come so easily. His kisses were so soft and greedy at the same time.
“I have nothing to tell you,” I said in a quiet voice.
I could feel his presence in the room. He filled up my small cramped apartment with his strength. All hulking muscle and intense green eyes.
From the moment he stepped in, there was a shift in the air in there.
I was afraid of the mark he would leave on my life this time around.
“Rosalie, you’re lying to me and to yourself. If there’s something you need to tell me, now is the chance,” he continued.
“You have no right to come to my apartment and give me ultimatums. Do you think I’m afraid of you?” I spun around to face him.
His eyes were so green and intense, I sunk into them again. I had to force myself to draw back. I had to keep reminding myself to disregard his good looks and sex appeal. He was nothing but trouble.
He came up to me again. I froze in place, afraid of what he would do next.
I could smell him, feel his heat. I was tempted to just throw myself at him so I could feel the bulge of his biceps too.
Brendan peered into my eyes.
“No, I don’t think you’re afraid of me, and I don’t want you to be. I just want you to tell me why you keep pushing me away.”
My breasts heaved. His eyes roamed down from my face to my breasts and then lower. The longer and deeper he looked at me, the more I wanted him.
My resolve was cracking.
“Why won’t you just leave me alone? You can have any girl you want, right? I’m sure if you whistle a few of them will queue up.”
Brendan shook his head.
“Is that what the problem is? You think I’ve fucked too many chicks to be good enough for you?”
I gulped thirstily. I could have lied and told him he’d hit the nail on the head. But he had seen it in my eyes already—that wasn’t the real reason.
“It’s something else. What is it?” he growled and lunged at me.
Before I could move back, he grabbed me by my arms and I wasn’t going anywhere.
Ten
Brendan
It didn’t take long for me to figure out Rosalie was struggling in life.
It wasn’t the first impression I got of her the previous night at the bar when she was in my arms and we were together. But now that I was in her apartment and I could see how small the space was, along with all
