He knew he must have a guilty expression on his face, because her eyes narrowed and she looked at him with dawning horror.
“He does know, doesn’t he? You’re actually telling me the truth!”
“Rafe and I go back a long way. He knew me when things were rough in my life. He’s my brother, Lia,” he tried to explain.
She threw her hands in the air, forgetting that she was clutching the blanket to her chest. It fell, exposing her perfect br**sts to his view. He knew it wasn’t a smart decision to stare at their beauty, not when she was so pissed off, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d held their weight in his hands, tasted them on his tongue. It was impossible not to look.
The hard slap to his face showed him the error of his ways.
“Don’t you dare look at me like that, Shane. I am so beyond mad at you, I don’t think you’ll ever have the privilege of touching my body again. And it’s your loss!”
With that, she scrambled from the bed, not bothering to cover herself up as she stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door.
She just needed time to cool off. That was all. Everything would be fine. He could understand that she was mad that Rafe once again knew something she didn’t know. It wasn’t as if he’d wanted to keep it from her; it was just difficult always to have to think about what he could and couldn’t say.
Everything was much simpler if people just didn’t know. Of course, that wasn’t an option when it came to Rafe. Shane had needed someone to talk to, someone who could understand when he needed to vent.
Some of the things he had to deal with gave him nightmares. He’d learned over the years to tune a lot of it out, to erase it from his mind, but some of it still got through. Rafe had always been there for him when those times came up.
Lia had been too young, and then when he started becoming serious about her, he hadn’t wanted to burden her.
No. That was crap. He hadn’t wanted to skate around the truth, think about what he could and couldn’t say to her. He’d wanted to just be free to be himself, and to relax with her — just love her and have her love him.
Once she knew he had a secret life that she couldn’t be a part of, then that’s all that she’d ever think about, and it would always come between them.
When the door opened again, Lia was dressed.
She approached the bed, glaring down at him. “I’m going home.”
She turned on her heel and began marching toward the door. Shane was fed up with what he considered her tantrum. He leapt from the bed and caught up to her before she made it to the door, pushing her against the solid wood as he blocked her with his body.
“We need to talk more, Lia. I don’t want to leave with this between us,” he said as she struggled against him, her arms trapped against the side of her body.
“I told you I’m through talking tonight, Shane,” she replied through gritted teeth.
“Don’t act like a baby. We’re in an adult relationship, and couples fight. We need to face it, not run away,” he said, wanting to lean forward and kiss her into submission.
That wasn’t going to happen, and he knew it. He also knew he really should learn to think before speaking, because it seemed he was doing nothing but digging himself a deeper hole. He was sure she’d love to bury him inside of it when he was finished.
“Believe me, Shane, I am anything but a baby. I have claws, and if you don’t let me go right now, I’ll show you how sharp they are,” she spit.
“Damn, you are stunning when you’re pissed off,” he gasped, his body hardening as he pressed against her.
He watched desire spark in her eyes as she felt his erection against her stomach. He also saw the determined glint behind the desire. He wasn’t going to get to alleviate his hunger tonight.
“Let go now.” Her voice was eerily calm. She refused to acknowledge his version of you’re so cute when you’re mad.
For him to keep holding her would be wrong. Taking a quick step back, he tried one more time.
“Let’s just talk this out, Lia.”
Her eyes drifted down his body, taking in his aroused state before coming back up and stopping at his face.
“Why don’t you think about what you really want? I’m not just a quick and easy lay in the sack no matter how many times I’ve fallen all over myself to have you inside me. You’ve lied to me, kept information from me, and in the process treated me with disrespect. I’m a catch, Shane, a damn fine one. I won’t be treated so poorly.”
With that, Lia opened the door and walked through, shutting it with a final click behind her.
Shane knew he could chase after her, stand outside her door if he had to until she agreed to talk to him. But, knowing Lia, he would just be wasting his time. She needed to cool off, speak to her sister and realize that what he’d done wasn’t so bad.
They had tomorrow. He could talk to her again. If not, then they had the wedding. Didn’t weddings make people all sappy? She’d surely want to make up before he left.
Shane went back to his now empty bed and lay down. As he looked over at her pillow and inhaled her sweet scent, he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep.
Letting out a groan, he got up, threw on some clothes and decided to go for a run. He’d wear himself out to the point that he passed out, even if it took him half the night.
The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn’t leave on bad terms with Lia. She had to realize he was in love with her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She would, he assured himself. She just needed to cool down first.
Chapter Forty-Four
Ari
“This is ridiculous, Ari. I am too old to have a stupid bachelor party,” Rafe said as he held Ari in his arms on the couch.
“Shane threatened to tie up anyone who got in the way of this ritual, Rafe. He pointed out that it’s his duty as your best man to ensure that you have a smoking good time on the last night before the wedding. I did, however, threaten to hang him by his toes if you came to the ceremony with a hangover,” Ari said, then kissed his jaw.
“I would much rather just spend the night with you in bed,” he said, grabbing her head and kissing her.
Ari wasn’t thrilled at the idea that Rafe would be hanging out with a bunch of rowdy men, drinking too much, and having women there to entertain them all, but Shane assured her they would keep the party PG. Still, she didn’t trust Shane. He liked to have a good time just a little too much.